


I-Island Vacation

by baileek313



Series: RWBY in My Hero [3]
Category: RWBY, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (Movie), My Hero Academia: Two Heroes Spoilers, Protective Yang Xiao Long, WBY is best senpai, mineta was cut out due to not being needed, these kids are badasses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 49,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28376388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baileek313/pseuds/baileek313
Summary: Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang are invited to the famous I-Island Expo along with some members of Class 1-A. The center of scientific hero tech is a perfect place to vacation for the up and coming heroes of the U.A. Hero Course. But their little vacation may just fall through short when villains decide to take over the island, and it’s up to the kids to save the day.A special for the RWBY in My Hero AU to celebrate the first year anniversary.
Relationships: Ruby Rose & Midoriya Izuku, Ruby Rose & Team RWBY
Series: RWBY in My Hero [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1595581
Comments: 15
Kudos: 37





	1. Saving the World with Love

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, we're back to work with the Two Heroes special! I wanted to get this up last week, but with the holidays, I... just missed the mark. Seriously, I had like a page of the prologue to finish up and missed it. Eh, I don't think it matters. Because I'm refreshed and energized for this!
> 
> Think of this as a nice little gift for sticking with me and this crossover for a year now. The first anniversary of this AU will be on January 18, 2021! I didn't want to wait to post it then, mostly since I promised this fic around New Year's, which was yesterday. I hope you all had an amazing holiday, and consider this a late holiday gift.
> 
> Thank you all, and enjoy the show!
> 
> I apologize in advance for the prologue, I borrowed that one episode from season three for it. I'm not sure why I included it, it was just supposed to be for fun before we get into the thick of it. I was debating on cutting it out for a while, but then 296 happened so... yeah. I decided to keep it in. If you want to skip it, feel free to. The last scene is the important part, anyway.
> 
> This fic will also have longer but fewer chapters (with the epilogue being an exception to this, because it's just to wrap things up neatly) compared to the other installments, so just keep a heads-up for that. ...and copious amounts of fake blood.
> 
> Anyway, I'm rambling. Let's get on with the story!
> 
> An alternate title for the prologue was Izuku Midoriya: Ace Attorney

It all started towards the end of July, about a week or two before the U.A. First Year Hero Course’s Training Camp. U.A. High School was holding special classes for anyone who wanted a bit more extra training on top of what they were already doing during summer vacation. Today marked that very first class.

Ruby Rose was elated at this. She was looking forward to the training camp, absolutely, but this? It was a chance to spend time with her classmates outside of school. And sure, they were going to be on U.A.’s campus but still! This was all voluntary.

And to make it better, Katsuki Bakugo — Ruby’s explosive blonde classmate with an explosive Quirk to match — was part of that first class, the same one that Ruby was participating in. In most bonding activities prior, he hadn’t really actively taken place… except for the food fight both he, Ruby and a few other of their classmates were a part of. He got really invested in that.

Ruby wondered if he would get heavily involved in this one, too. It was not only hero training, but also involved some of the members of that same food fight — Izuku Midoriya, Shouto Todoroki, Tenya Iida and Ochako Uraraka.

The group of five sat in their classroom that day, waiting patiently for their special summer training course to begin. Since they were the first group in their class to go, it was hard to figure out what their teachers had in store for them. It honestly could've been anything.

Their speculatory chatter was cut off when Shouta Aizawa, the kids’ homeroom teacher, entered the classroom the kids were waiting in. Ruby was pretty sure that was a reflex at this point.

“We’ll be running this course multiple times with small groups from your class. Today will be the six of you,” Aizawa told his students, explaining the already-known details of the special course. “Just so you know, this will be harder than a regular class. Prepare yourselves.” 

Ruby leaned up against her desk. What she wanted to know was what exactly were they going to do? Is this going to be one of those times where Mr. Aizawa threatens to expel them if they fail. ...no, to Ruby’s knowledge that only happened once, and even then he hadn’t followed through with that promise.

She was glad that he didn’t.

“In this master class, you’ll be tasked with saving innocent bystanders,” Aizawa continued, finally reaching the finer details. “And capturing a villain.” Now that caught everyone’s attention, Bakugo's included.

“We’re not just studying — we’re playing heroes!” exclaimed Ochako, Midoriya and Ruby with glee. This was real hero stuff alright! The excitement in the three went quiet with a single stare from Mr. Aizawa. For once, he didn’t use his Quirk to help reinforce his presence.

“This should be obvious, but villains commit many different types of crime,” Mr. Aizawa continued on once the outburst had been settled. “You six will be dispatched to a scene and will need to determine what happened there, whether or not a villain is actually at fault… whether or not you should fight. We will be judging your ability to assess the situation as well as how well you diffuse it. Welcome your instructors.”

The backdoor to the classroom opened with a loud enough bang that made Ruby, whose desk was the very back, jump. Everyone whirled around to face the door.

“I am here,” said the kids’ basic hero training teacher, All Might, as he made his entrance, “sneaking through the back door!”

Midoriya’s eyes lit up. “All Might’s teaching us?!”

“Awesome!” said Ruby under her breath. All Might was not only teaching the hero course at U.A. but also was Japan's number one hero. It had been months since he started working at U>A., and RUby still wasn’t used to him being her teacher.

“He’s not the only one today.” The kids turned back around when Aizawa spoke up. Standing at the front with him were the rest of their instructors for this special course: “Cementoss, Midnight and Present Mic will be assisting. They’ll be acting as special trainers. Let’s get started. Head to Ground Beta and we’ll begin.”

Ruby grinned, joining in the chorus of ‘yes’ with her classmates. This was going to be awesome!

* * *

As per their teacher’s instructions, the group of six got suited up in their hero costumes and headed over to Ground Beta, one of the many U.A. training grounds that were meant to reflect a cityscape. The kids took cover in an alley not too far from their target location — a jewelry store that was supposed to be under the control of a villain.

According to Mr. Aizawa, the villain had taken customers and employees hostage after barricading himself inside the building. The kids had no idea how many villains were in there, or how many bystanders there were. As Pro Heroes, the group had been asked by the police to step in. Aizawa told them nothing more than that. They were left to figure out ther rest for themselves.

A buzzer blared, signifying their training had begun. Ruby, Midoriya, Iida and Ochako peeked around the corner to get a look at the building again. There were cardboard cutouts of police officers set up in front of the store.

“Okay. What’s our first move?” asked Iida.

“That’s easy,” said Midoriya. “First, we need to figure out how many villains and hostages there are inside.” Before they could discuss a plan to do just that, Bakugo spoke up.

“Uraraka,” he said, turning to the girl in question. “You go.”

A bit of the color drained from Ochako’s face. “Me by myself?”

“If we all run in, the villains’ll notice us,” Bakugo pointed a finger at Ochako before gesturing over to the building. “But you can float up to the top window and not get caught.”

“Yeah. You’re right! I’m on it.” Ruby leaned against the brick wall.

“Isn’t that kinda dangerous?” she asked, wringing a hand over the back of her neck. “The villains could spot her, and Ochako’s costume really isn’t designed for stealth.” Ochako looked down at her costume, with its pale pink parts and all.

“It is,” said Todoroki, “but we can distract them.” Ruby raised a brow. Distract them? Todoroki gestured over to the jewelry store's sign. There was a phone number printed underneath the store’s name.

That was his brilliant plan? A phone call? ...well, it wasn’t like the others could come up with anything better. And so, Todoroki pulled out his phone. He dialled the number on the window and waited while the phone rang. It was picked up a few seconds later.

“ _Who is this? The fuzz?_ ” said a very recognizable voice over the phone. Todoroki pulled it away from his ear, covering the speaker.

“All Might’s pretending to be the criminal,” Todoroki relayed to the others before returning to the call. “I’m a Pro Hero. And you are?”

With Todoroki keeping the villain distracted, the others put their plan into motion.

Midoriya held up his hands as Ochako stepped up towards the alley’s entrance. “Tell us how many villains on your right hand, and how many hostages on your left.”

“Yeah,” Ochako said with a nod. “‘kay.” She took a deep breath, tapping the palms of her hands. Her Quirk activated, making her body weightless. As she levitated off of the ground, Midoriya and Ruby pushed her in the right direction. Ruby bit down on her lip as her friend crossed the street, making it to the store without a problem. Ochako caught herself on the building’s ledge and peered inside.

She turned back to her friends after a moment. Ochako raised four fingers in total — one on her right hand, and three on her left. One villain. Three hostages.

“Nice, Uraraka!” called out Iida in a harsh whisper, using hand signals to gesture to Ochako what exactly he was saying. “Stay there. Wait for us!” Ochako gestured something back in reply, forming a circle over her head with her arms. Ruby raised a brow. What?

Midoriya gasped. “Quick, hide!”

The two boys at the entrance with Ruby pulled her back away from sight. Carefully, they peered out again. All Might — their faux villain, with a spike-covered costume and mask to help sell it — was looking outside the store’s glass door.

“He’s checking to make sure that everyone’s gone,” said Todoroki. He had hung up his phone and joined the others at the entryway. Ruby hummed, watching as All Might paced back and forth.

“We should probably do our best to stay out of sight,” she suggested. “If he sees us at all, we’ll put the hostages in danger.”

“How do we help them?” mused Iida, glancing down at Ruby. “Do you think there could be a back way inside?” Ruby only shrugged. Her and Iida were prime assets in this scenario due to their Quirks. The engines in Iida’s calves granted him super speed, while Ruby could use her stamina to boost hers.

“Maybe he won’t catch sight of us if we’re fast enough.” The gears in Ruby’s mind started to turn. “You and I could run around back and check. If you follow me, you might just disperse my rose petals so no one notices that we—”

Ruby was cut off when Bakugo let out a yell of frustration behind them.

“This is stupid,” he growled. He marched up to where the rest of the group was, and stepped in the mouth of the alley.

“Kacchan?!” said Midoriya, failing to keep his voice down but not really sounding shocked at all as he was pushed aside.

“Bakugo, calm down!” added Iida, slipping into his class representative personality almost immediately.

“You’re planning to charge straight in?” said Todoroki, eyes slightly wide.

“Obviously,” Bakugo replied. “I'll fire off a bunch of explosions and take down that villain. You guys can save the hostages or whatever, I don’t care.”

“Bakugo, calm down!” Ruby said, repeating Iida’s earlier words as she grabbed Bakugo’s arm, hoping to stop him. “You’re being way too hasty.”

“What are you talking about?” Bakugo jerked his arm out of Ruby’s grasp. “He’s right there in the window. This is our chance!”

“Yeah, our chance for you to get us caught!” But, as usual, Bakugo wasn’t listening, `He had already begun blasting himself towards the store's entrance, effectively blowing his teammates’ cover. Ruby let out a loud groan. Now left with no choice, the rest of the team raced after him.

“Damn it,” shouted Bakugo before anyone had the chance to catch up. “I won’t let you have those hostages!” Bakugo finally reached the front door. He blasted it apart, sending shards of glass and wooden splinters everywhere. Ruby shouted Bakugo’s name as smoke billowed out from the entryway. What was he thinking, doing that?!

When they finally caught up to him, the group found Bakugo standing dumbfounded in the remains of the doorway. He was staring at a single spot on the floor. And as the smoke cleared, the kids were treated to the remarkable sight that shut the hothead up.

“Wait,” said Midoriya, choking on his own words. “Is that…?” Bakugo could only nod.

All Might was splayed on the floor. Something dark and red had exploded on the front of his chest. A bloody knife was resting on the ground, not too far away from the mask All Might was wearing had fallen. There was also a large splatter of red beneath him.

Things might’ve just gotten a little too real. This… Ruby put a hand over her mouth. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all.

“The villain was…” Midoriya said slowly, as if he was trying not to panic, “killed?”

Ruby shakily lowered her hand. “He’s not really dead… is he?”

“Maybe we should check his pulse,” Ochako suggested. Swallowing something down, Ruby steadily walked over to where All Might laid. She knelt down beside him. Ruby hesitated a moment before carefully pressing her fingers to his neck. All Might flinched at her sudden touch, letting out a short cough as he did. Ruby let out a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding.

“It’s okay, he’s alive,” she said. Ochako finally dropped down from above, having deactivated her Quirk. Ruby stood up. “I think this is just part of the act.”

“Is it because of Bakugo’s blast?” Ochako asked.

“No way.” The group turned to face Bakugo, whose eyes were narrowed behind his mask. “It wasn’t even that strong.”

“He would be burned if it was your explosions, right?” Ruby asked him.

“Exactly.” Bakugo turned to Ochako. “Weren’t you watching? You were supposed to be our eyes.”

“Yeah,” said Ochako with a huff, “but, I couldn’t see anything because of all the smoke.” Bakugo only growled, frustrated with that answer. Todoroki strode over to Ruby’s side.

“The murder weapon is a knife covered in blood,” he observed, nearly toeing at the weapon with the tip of his boot.

“The building was surrounded by police, so we know no one went in or out,” Iida thought out loud. “That means whoever killed the villain must still be inside!” The group looked over at the hostages — tied up and played out by their remaining three teachers. There was a beat as the thought coursed through the group’s heads.

Midoriya raised his hand slightly. “Hold on. It’s too soon to know that for sure. We should listen to what they have to say first.”

“Right,” said Ruby with a nod. She rushed over to the hostages alongside Ochako. The two began to quickly work on untying the hostages. Iida ducked out in order to search the rest of the building. As soon as the hostages were untied, they gave the heroes their testimonies.

Cementoss explained that he was nothing more than an employee working at the store. According to him, the villain had suddenly appeared and threatened him. And when he handed over the jewels, he was tied up. Midnight claimed that when she had stopped by to pick up a few pieces of jewelry, the villain was already there. He took advantage of her shock at the situation and tied her up.

And Present Mic… pretty much milked it for all it was worth. He told the kids that he simply came into the store to buy something for his girlfriend, when the villain knocked him unconscious. Though, it took a second for Ruby to figure it all out. He sounded like her father when he was trying to 'connect' with his interns.

 _Does he really think we talk like that…?_ Ruby sighed, crossing her arms as her teacher finished. 

Todoroki turned to Cementoss, gesturing over to Present Mic. “When the villain first arrived, was this man already in the store?”

“Yes, he was browsing,” Cementoss replied. “That beast knocked him unconscious, and he was asleep for quite a long time.”

Todoroki then turned to Midnight. “And when you first came into the shop, ma’am. Did you see both of these men?”

“I didn’t get a good look when I walked in,” Midnight glanced at the ground, not looking her student in the eye. “But when he was tying me up… I noticed these two men had been in different parts of the store.”

“Hm. So far their stories all seem to fit.” For now. Ruby learned from books Blake had lent her and that one video game she played with Weiss last summer that when it came to mysteries like this, if you pressed the witnesses hard enough, someone was sure to slip up.

At Midoriya’s suggestion, the group searched the hostages’ bags and wallets. In Present Mic’s and Midnight's cases, they were both full of credit cards and cash. The amount of money matched up with their stories.

At this point, Bakugo was getting fed up with all of this detective work.

“One of you killed this stupid villain,” he barked at the hostages. “Just come out and tell us, or else.” Even if it wasn’t bared, one of his palms was sparking in frustration. He… really didn’t like doing this, did he?

“What’s the motive?” Todoroki asked, drawing Bakugo’s attention to him.

“What?! The stolen jewelry, you moron! Plus, they’re just bad guys.”

“Maybe not,” said Ruby. Bakugo turned to her, a brow raised. “Even if they were after the jewelry, it’s really reckless to kill someone if you’re in a locked room. You’d automatically be a suspect. Have you never read any locked room mysteries before?”

Bakugo’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, and like you have?”

“Yes.” All eyes fell on her. Ruby blinked. “...what? One of my friends is a fan.”

“Rose has a point. Besides, the criminal dropped the jewelry,” said Todoroki, crossing his arms while gesturing over to a bag still sitting in the shattered display case. “Yet no one took the bag.”

“Okay…” Ruby glanced over at the bag of loot itself and then the hostages. “Theft wasn’t the motive, then maybe…?”

“Another conflict?” Ochako suggested. Ruby nodded.

“If there were two villains in here,” Midoriya said, voicing his thoughts out loud as if he picked up on Ruby’s own train, “and during the attack, they argued about how to split up the loot, that could be the motive.”

“The hostages would’ve overheard!” Ruby finished for him. Midoriya nodded to confirm that.

Unfortunately, all of the hostages denied having overheard anything. According to them, they believed the villain was working alone. It was only when Iida returned did the group get their definitive answer.

“I’ve inspected every corner of the store,” he announced. “There’s no back exit, and all the windows are sealed. It’s impossible that anyone escaped.” Ochako lanced over at their group of suspects.

“Then,” she said, “the person at fault has to be one of these three.” All three of the hostages immediately denied that fact, with Present Mic going as far as to drop to his knees and swear that it wasn’t him.

“Maybe we should call the police,” Ruby suggested, crossing her arms over his chest. “They have equipment that could help get to the bottom of things. Find evidence like hair or fingerprints.”

“Perhaps that would be wise, yes…” muttered Iida.

“This is so frustrating,” groaned Ochako. “We know the culprit has to be one of these people!” Yeah, but—

Several loud pops erupted from Bakugo’s palms. All of the heroes’ witnesses jumped back in surprise. Oh no.

“Simple,” said Bakugo with a dangerous smirk. “We’ll just force them to start talking!”

“Bakugo!” Todoroki put a hand on his shoulder, immediately getting thrown off.

“Be a hero,” Iida reminded the explosive boy. Bakugo ignored him.

Ruby huffed, striding forward and pushed gently down on one of Bakugo’s gauntlets, lowering his still popping palm. “If you do anything to the hostages, then the police are going to arrest you, too!”

“Tch, I didn’t say anything about hurting them!” Bakugo barked. The sparking only stopped when he caught sight of Midoriya. The latter had been awfully quiet for a while. And glancing over at him herself, Ruby could see that he had his thinking face on. “Hey, you damn nerd. You’ve got a new idea, haven’t you?”

“Uh—!” Midoriya blinked, snapping back to reality while Bakugo called out. “Well… something’s bothering me here.”

“What is it?” Todoroki asked.

“Why did the villain barricade himself inside the store? You know? …’cause, if he wanted to, he could have just escaped with the goods earlier. So then, why did he stay?” Ruby hummed, trying to think of an answer herself. If he had what he wanted, he should have left like any good villain would’ve. Midoriya had a point.

“Timing wise,” Cementoss stepped forward from the group, drawing the heroes’ attention to him, “the authorities arrived just as I was putting in the bag for him. He had no opportunity to flee.”

“Did you call the police?” asked Ochako.

Cementoss shook his head. “I never had the chance.” Okay, if he didn’t then who…?

“Someone outside the store must’ve seen what was happening,” suggested Iida. “They’re the ones who called the police.”

“If that’s the case, then it has to mean… “ Midoriya turned to the hostages. “Midnight. It was you.” Wait, what?

Even Midnight herself seemed confused. “What? Me?”

“You were the only one who came into the jewelry store after the villain was already here.”

“Are you sure?” Ruby asked. Why would he suspect Midnight?

“Don’t you make us look like buncha idiots,” barked Bakugo. “ Why would someone who called the police come inside to face the villain and allow themselves to be taken as a hostage?”

“Hear me out.” Midnight began to shift uncomfortably at Midoriya’s words. Ruby could see the gears of his mind turning as her classmate bgan to put the pieces together. “I think she’s the reason the villain barricaded himself in here to begin with. Midnight… you knew the man on the floor before this incident, didn’t you? And not just as an acquaintance — you knew he committed crimes. You saw him and knew he was going to rob the jewelry store, so you called the police the moment he went inside so they would stop him. And then, before they could arrive… You decided to go in yourself. He must’ve been shaken to see you. But he also understood your true intentions. Why you were there. Even so, the villain continued the robbery and tied you up like the others. While he was doing that, the police arrived, and he was forced to barricade himself in the store.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. They… They knew each other?

“No!” Midnight exclaimed. “Why would I willingly put myself in danger like that?”

“Because you wanted him to change his life.” As casual as Midoriya’s statement was, it still made Midnight sharply gasp. “Didn’t you?” Midnight looked away. “No matter how many times you tried to convince him to step away from crime, he wouldn’t. So you made sure that, this time, he’d be forced to change his ways.”

Ochako let out a gasp. “Wait, Deku. Even if things happened the way you just said they did… Why would she kill the villain?”

“All she wanted to do was get him arrested,” said Todoroki.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Iida agreed with a nod. “She has no motive to kill him.”

“True,” said Midoriya. “There’s no motive. That’s why the murderer… isn’t one of these three.”

Ruby glanced to the ground, thinking long and hard about the situation in front of the. I the the murder wasn’t one of the hostages, like Midoriya said, then that would only leave one suspect.It had to have been—

Wait.

Ruby whirled around to face Midoriya. “Are you seriously saying that it was—?!”

“Suicide,” Todoroki finished for her, having come to the same conclusion. “Right?”

“Probably,” Midoriya turned to face the violin in the ground. “Once he figured out what Midnight’s intentions must be, it’s likely he still expected to escape as planned. But then Pro Heroes showed up on the scene.”

“He refused to be taken alive,” said Iida.

“Not quite.” Ruby raised a brow. That wasn’t it? “I think he was worried about something else. If he was caught by the police, his relationship with Midnight might have been exposed, putting her in all sorts of trouble. If that had happened, a dark shadow would’ve fallen over the rest of her life. That’s why this villain silenced himself with his own weapon. Midnight didn’t say anything because she realized what he was thinking when he took his own life, the sacrifice he was making so that she could live.”

That was it. Midnight doubled over, dropping to her knees and collapsing in tears. Everyone held their breath. In that moment, Ruby was the only one who had the heart to move. She walked over to her teacher, and knelt down beside her. She lent a comforting hand to her shoulder.

“Out of respect, she couldn’t say anything,” Midoriya continued.

“You think Midnight and the villain were that in love?” asked Ochako. Midoriya nodded. Ruby felt something twist her heart around a little. That was...

“...Ms. Midnight was only trying to help because she loved him so much…” said Ruby. Midnight sobbed a little harder, now leaning on Ruby’s arm. “She didn’t want him to get hurt or hurt anyone…”

“And the robber was trying to save Midnight,” Iida concluded, “because deep in his villainous heart, he loved her as well.”

“They were both just trying to look out for each other,” mused Todoroki before he sighed. “That’s ironic, isn’t it?”

Midoriya only shrugged. “I believe that this is the truth behind the attack in the jewelry store.”

There was silence in the store, aside to the sound of Midnight’s cries. Sadness lingered in the air, with only Bakugo's own agitated aura countering it.

And then it broke.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Aizawa had entered the store, and his words alone enough to signal the end of the class. In an instant, Midnight snapped out of character with a bright enough smile on her face to make Ruby jup back out of surprise.

“This was so fun!” the woman happily said. Ruby sat there on the floor, just staring. What a 180…

“Thanks, you three. You’re all done here,” said Aizawa. Midnight held out her hand, taking Ruby’s. She stood, helping her student up as well. “Save your strength for the next group?”

The teachers all chimed in agreement on that matter. However, as they started to make their way out of the building...

"You know, for a last minute change, this went off really well,” said Present Mic, finally dropping his over-the-top act and catching the attention of the students. Ruby blinked. What did he say?

“A last minute change?” repeated Ochako. The teachers stopped, as if caught doing something scandalous on camera.

“Yeah. We had this more interesting script and everything,” Present Mic continued, despite the looks that Midnight and Aizawa were giving him. “If there were five of us like there was supposed to be, we really could’ve put you kids through the wringer! But Old Man Oz was just way too busy with that whole thing that happened, so he had to duck out. Kind of a bummer, really."

Old Man Oz? Oh, wait he was talking about Ozpin, another one of the U.A. teachers. Unlike the other staff members, he was responsible for the third year hero course. ...Hold up a second—

"Wait, what happened with Ozpin?" Ruby asked.

"He had his kid—" Present Mic was cut off when Midnight elbowed him right in the stomach. 

"Personal stuff, kids,” said Midnight a bit too nonchalantly. “And it's private,” Midnight sharply elbowed Present Mic again, “ _Yamada_."

"Right...! Got it...!" Present Mic groaned as the teachers finally took their leave. Ruby felt a pang of guilt ring out in her chest. Mr. Ozpin wasn’t in school the days following the first years’ final exams. And after hearing about that.. she hoped everything was alright.

“Midoriya.” The kids snapped to attention when Aizawa addressed one of them. “Your deductions were exactly what we had scripted for this scenario. The villain did stab himself with his own knife. It was smart work getting to the conclusion by asking a logical series of questions.” Midoriya’s friends surrounded him.

“Wow! Praise from Mr. Aizawa!”

“Extremely well done, Midoriya!”

“Way to go!” Midoriya chuckled at the praise, smiling all the while. 

“But you weren’t perfect. You six overlooked one major thing,” said Mr. Aizawa, making all the joy in the room evaporate in an instant. “Therefore, you earned… zero points.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding!” Bakugo shouted, voicing the thoughts of the entire group at that very moment.

“Observe.” Aizawa gestured over to where the body was. The kids whirled around and eyes went wide. All that was left was a rather large puddle of fake blood. They froze.

All Might was gone. And since they had been told they failed, it meant that—

“He’s alive?!” The kids exclaimed. They ran out of the building as fast they could, just in time to catch All Might streaking down the training ground’s road, cackling like a villain all the while. He.. But they… and the blood — well, fake blood… but still… What!?

“You were all under the assumption that the villain was a corpse,” said Aizawa as he strolled out of the story behind the kids, “so you didn’t tie him up. And that’s why you all fail.”

“Is that even allowed?” Bakugo borderline growled while the rest of his classmates turned back to their teacher.

“Didn’t you realize that All Might gave you a hint about the truth? He tried to help you. When Rose checked his pulse.” Ruby clasped a hand over her mouth to hide the gasp that escaped from it. He had flinched when she touched him, but—! “He reacted to her touch, didn’t he? You thought it was a mistake, but he was alive.” And like that, their teacher turned and walked away, dismissing the kids as he did so.

The kids themselves just stood there, still trying to process what had just happened. After a moment of two, Midoriya let out a long, rawn out groa

“...Aw man…!” he said, dragging his hands down his face as he did so.

Bakugo growled again, small sparks beginning to pop from his palms. “That’s a dirty trick!”

“Uh— Wait a second.” Eyes turned to Iida who looked like the plot twist had just smacked him in the face again. “If the villain is alive, then… He pretended to kill himself, but looked for a chance to escape the whole time! He didn’t stay there for Midnight!” Wait…!

“Ms. Midnight misunderstood and thought he did what he did to protect her…!” said Ruby. That no-good, dirty rotten—!

“But their love story!” Ochako about hine with forlorn.

Midoriya’s eyes were still wide and only seemed to get wider. “It was…!”

“...never real,” Todoroki finished. Ruby let out a groan, palming her face with a loud smack. Were they serious?! That was all a trick?!

Bakugo was upset the most by this turn of events. ...maybe upset wasn't the right word. His eyes were narrowed to slits, his teeth were grit so hard that Ruby thought they might crack, and sparks were dancing so wildly off of his palms that the pops they made sounded like one continuous loop.

“I hate this test. And this love stuff!” Bakugo screamed, the force of the noise loud enough to somehow rival Present Mic’s Voice Quirk. It even made the store’s window crack, and a few seconds later, shatter.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time Ruby had finally arrived home, the sun just about as tired as she was from the events that day. But i like her, it still had work to do for a few hours. ….Ruby felt the same amount of disappointment as it did of having to work, though. She couldn’t believe that she missed a plot twist like that! Locked room mysteries always had some sort of twist like that!

….maybe she needed to read a few of them again. Or even ask Blake for some new recommendations. Ruby jogged up to her front door, and quickly unlocked it.

“Yang, I'm home!” she called out to her older sister. There was a very happy bark. The family’s pet, an upbeat corgi named Zwei, came bounding up to Ruby to greet her. With a soft smile, Ruby got down to the ground to meet him, scratching the pup behind his ear.

It was only then that Ruby noticed two pairs of shoes in the door that didn’t belong to any one of the household’s members. She looked up.

Sitting in the living room were her older sister, the busty blonde Yang Xiao Long. Beside her was the stealthy, dark haired and cat-eared Blake Belladonna. Opposite them was the regal and white-haired Weiss Schnee, stunned by something. Ruby assumed that Zwei had been sitting in her lap before racing over to Ruby.

“Hey, Weiss,” she said with a small wave. “Hey, Blake.” Weiss and Blake both greeted her with a short ‘hey’ as Ruby stood back up, taking off her shoes before properly entering the house.

“Where have you been?” Weiss asked. Zwei nuzzled up against Ruby’s leg before trotting back to her.

“School.”

“Right, you had that special class today,” said Yang with a snap of her fingers. Ruby nodded to confirm that. “So, how’d it go?”

“Eh… it went…” Ruby thought back to what happened earlier that day and sighed. “Yeah, it just went.”

Yang grimaced. “That bad?”

“No… there was just a twist that none of us caught and left us with zero points in the end.” And that made Weiss wince.

“Ouch,” Ruby caught Blake say as she jogged up the stairs to the bedroom.

She acted quickly, shucking off her backpack and tossing it on her desk. Ruby originally wanted to just take a nap or something, not wanting to deal with the disappointment from the special course for the rest of the day. But now that her friends were there… maybe they could help make her feel better after that disaster.

Ruby made quick work for her school uniform, tossing it off with now well practiced ease. It was traded for a more comfortable t-shirt and shorts. Ruby was pulling on one of the many red hoodies she owned (this one thankfully short-sleeved for the weather) as she made her way back down the stairs. Zwei had returned to his spot nestled in Weiss’s lap. The girls were in the middle of talking about… something, what it was Ruby wasn’t entirely sure.

“So, we’re going to be gone for the week,” said Weiss.

“Not a week,” Blake cut in, “The weekend, definitely. But I’m not sure if it’s the entire week.” Ruby raised a brow. They were going to be gone for the weekend?

“What are you guys talking about?” she asked as she hit the bottom step making her way quickly over to her friends and the conversation.

“Vacation plans,” Weiss told Ruby as she plopped down next to her on the couch. “Blake and I are heading to the I-Island Expo in a few days.”

“What?!” Ruby exclaimed, a myriad of emotions rushing through her in that moment.

She had heard about the I-Island Expo. It was a huge hero convention that was held at least once a year. And it was exclusive, too. People from all over the world converged for this one event to show off the support items that they’d made, as well as some of their skills.

Blake smirked herself as she gave an explanation. “My family was invited because of the White Fang's work with mutant type Quirks and helping to make accommodating support items for heroes with different bodies and body types. Since Mom and Dad are busy with the agency, they're letting me go.”

The White Fang — the name of the agency run by the Belladonna family, where Blake did her work study. The heroes working at the agency itself had mostly mutant type Quirks, or their appearance had been affected by a Quirk somewhere in their bloodline, much like Ruby’s classmates Mina Ashido and Fumikage Tokoyami. No matter what they looked like, heroes of all shapes and sizes were welcome at White Fang.

“And my sister was supposed to go as a representative of my family’s support company,” Weiss continued, picking up where Blake left off. “But, seeing as she’s a Pro Hero and has been assigned to an important mission, she can’t. So, I’ve been selected instead.”

“Way to go, guys!” said Yang.

“Aw, you two are so lucky!” said Ruby, leaning forward on her knees. “The I-Island Expo is a once in a lifetime chance! Not just anyone gets to go.” Silence hung in the air as Blake and Weiss exchanged a look with each other, each with a sly smirk.

Yang sat up a bit straighter, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know what it looks like. What’s going on?”

“Well,” Blake buried her hands in her lap, “our invitations allow us to bring a plus one—”

“And after talking about it, we want to take the two of you,” Weiss finished. “Ruby with me, and Yang with Blake.” Both Yang’s and Ruby’s eyes went wide.

“Are you serious?” asked Yang.

“We wouldn’t be telling you about this if we weren’t.” Ruby’s excitement finally hit its peak.

“WEISS!” Ruby tackled Weiss in a tight squeeze, nearly knocking Zwei out of her lap and getting some rose petals in her own mouth in the process. She couldn’t believe—! “You’re the best! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”

Weiss carefully pushed Ruby off of her. “You’re welcome.”

Blake chuckled, hiding her smile with the back of her hand. “Well, that’s Ruby’s answer. What about you, Yang? Are you okay to go?”

“I should be,” Yang leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “I mean, I have to check, but I’m pretty sure that the bossman’s is gonna give me the days off to go.” Well yeah, he would have to be crazy not to let one of his students go to something like this, but...

“Oh, what about Dad and Uncle Qrow?” asked Ruby. Did Weiss and Blake already talk to them? They were the sisters’ legal guardians. And since this involved them leaving the country, it would be a pretty good idea to let them now about it… Especially considering their jobs as Pro Heroes, Taiyang Xiao Long and Qrow Branwen were quick to worry.

“Do you really think that they wouldn’t let us go if we asked?” Yang pointed over to Weiss. “Besides, we’re like… with the princess of responsibility herself.”

“Hey,” there was a beat before Weiss sighed, slowly petting Zwei behind his ear. “...it is true, though. But I would ask them, either way.”

“Fine, alright.”

And that was that. This was actually happening. First it was the super-special training camp that would happen in just a few weeks and now this? Ruby was going to get to sped some special moments with her friends, moments that she would remember forever. At this rate, this was going to be the best summer ever!

And she couldn’t wait for it.


	2. Welcome to I-Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vacation has begun. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang arrive at I-Island and run into surprise after surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we start the expo... sition. This is just the gang getting together, and setting up who is on the island. Shit won't hit the fan until the next chapter.
> 
> No warnings for this chapter. All the violence isn't going to happen until like... three and four, so you're good for now. Only violence is from the villain attack course the kids go through.
> 
> And if you haven't noticed, the amount of chapters has increased. That's because I didn't realize how long some chapters were (mostly concerning the race up the tower, which came out to twenty-four pages total, and that's really long, even for me) and split them up. Longest chapter now is about eighteen pages? It's the climax of the story, so I didn't want to split that up.
> 
> ( I did get bored and drew out the hero costumes Weiss, Blake and Yang wear here a few months ago. For anyone who wants to take a look at them, the link is right here: https://queen-ofsunflowers.tumblr.com/post/632545839249801216/rwby-in-my-hero-two-heroes-team-rwby-designs 
> 
> it also includes the formal wear designs for the next chapter and the rest of the fic-- )

Weiss had suggested that Ruby try to get some sleep the moment they boarded the plane late that night. According to her, it would help with inevitable jet lag that was to follow. It took Ruby about an hour into the flight to I-Island to accomplish this.

Hours must've gone by with Ruby soundly sleeping against the plane’s window. It was only then that she was gently roused from slumber, Ruby let out a yawn, gently rubbing at silver eyes as her senses began to wake up with the rest of her.

“Hmm? What….?” she murmured. The was a soft laugh. As the word opened up around her gradually, Ruby realized that it was her sister who had come to wake her up.

“We’re gonna be landing soon,” Yang said simply. Ruby mustered a nod before sitting up, stretching herself out in her seat. As the remnants of sleep began to fall away, it was only then that Ruby noticed something about her sister.

She wasn’t wearing the same summery clothes that she was wearing when they boarded.

“Why are you in your hero costume…?” Ruby asked. True enough, Yang was decked out in the brown and orange, braced-to-the-nines jumpsuit that served as her uniform for hero work. Even her hair was tied back and everything. She looked like she was going out to work rather than on a vacation.

“Because this is a hero convention?” Yang sighed, fidgeting with the goggles resting atop her head, trying to maneuver them so they kept her bangs out of her eyes. “I don’t know, Weiss told us to go change. Did you bring yours with you like she asked?”

“Yeah.” Ruby yawed again, getting out of her seat. Weiss had told her to bring it, and only knew why it made sense why. It had to have some purpose, since it took Ruby a while to convince Mr. Aizawa let her take it home for the summer for this trip. Lucky for her, both Present Mic and Midnight — who happened to be nearby — managed to give her the permission that she needed.

Ruby stood up on her toes, reaching for the case that was safe and sound in the plane’s overhead bin. As soon as it was safe in her hand, she rushed off to the bathroom to change, passing by Weiss and Blake on the way. Both of them were already dressed in their hero costumes, much like Yang — Blake in almost all black, her coat making Ruby wonder if she was going to sweat right through it. Weiss — despite being covered as well — might have the same problem. At least hers was lighter in color, being in mostly muted shade of blue… and reminding Ruby somewhat of a figure skater’s costume.

Ruby ducked into the bathroom, holding it close to her chest until she was safely behind the door. Jumpsuit… skirt, boots, leg braces… And most importantly the bright red cloak that had to be a staple of her costume. It was all there.

It was a bit strange getting changed on a plane, but Ruby made quick work of the task. ...It was also a bit strange to be wearing her hero costume outside of school or for something that wasn’t school related.

Ruby emerged shortly from the bathroom, empty case now in hand and fastening her cloak to her shoulders with her other hand. She quickly stowed the case in the bin and stowed her normal clothes away in her backpack. She still didn't understand why she had to be in her hero costume when they landed… but not like she was complaining. Her costume was one of her favorite things to wear.

“Hey, there it is,” said Weiss. Ruby rushed over to the window, pressing a little too close to Weiss in the process. She let out a squeal the moment her silver eyes laid eyes on the marvel that aws I-Island. They were finally—! “Ruby!”

“Oh, whoops!” Ruby chuckled, trying to diffuse the situation as she backed off. “Sorry!”

At the sound of a flight attendant’s voice over the intercom, Ruby immediately got back down in her seat again, buckling up as the plane started its descent.

It was still hard to believe all this was happening… even though she was right here at I-Island.

* * *

The girls made it out of the plane without much of a problem (and with Ruby silently thanking the gods that Weiss was just about loaded with cash an they didn't have to fly on a public plane.) All they had to do was get their bags and check in at the hotel before going anywhere else. But Ruby, as they stepped into the air conditioned building from the runway, had the strongest urge right then and there to use her Quirk to rush through all of it. She wanted to get out of here and explore the island.

“We will now begin the immigration process,” said a voice over the airport’s intercom. The girls stepped onto the conveyor belt after entering the airport itself, passing through the check-in in question. Each of them were scanned to confirm their identities, as well as any unregistered weapons that they might’ve had on them.

For Ruby, it was a bit difficult to stay still. Some rose petals fell on the conveyor belt as it moved, the speedy girl buzzing for the chance to leave the airport the first thing she could. 

“Whoa, Ruby,” Yang put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, plucking some of the petals that have fallen from her hair. “Relax.”

“I can’t help it!” said Ruby, trying to push down the power of her Quirk, Petal Burst. “I’m just so excited!” She glanced at the others. “Come on aren’t you?”

“I think it’s only you,” said Blake.

“How can you guys not be?!” Ruby nearly squealed, glancing at Blake over her shoulder. “I-Island is the epicenter of Quirk research! This is where nearly all the development on new support items is done! The place even moves. It _moves_! It’s a moving island! And the security system too… it’s absolutely top of the line! Oh!” The second they stepped off the conveyor belt, Ruby went in for another tight hug with Weiss. “Thank you so much again, Weiss!”

“Save your thanks for later,” Weiss said as she pried Ruby off of her. “There’s also the expo’s preview that we have to look forward to.”

“Right…” said Blake, drawing out the word a little. “Our invitations let us in on the preview.” Again, preview?!

“What’s that mean?” Ruby asked, a brow raised.

“It means we get to check it out early,” Yang explained rather bluntly. But still, her sister’s tone didn’t stop Ruby’s eyes from lighting up. Free to finally move around, Ruby gave into her earlier desire. In a rather impressive burst of rose petals, she rushed through the airport and out the door.

She came skidding to a stop at the sight of it. A small giggle of glee escaped her lips. The artificial island, as metallic as it may be looked so… natural. And the place was bustling with activity in the best way Ruby thought possible, all decked out in decorations and beautiful flowers to welcome visitors for the expo. Not only that, but things for the expo seemed to already be in full swing. So many people are here… so many attractions, demonstrations and so much more.

Ruby let out something of a dreamy sigh. “Pictures don't do this place justice.”

From behind her the other girls had caught up, suitcases in hand. How long had Ruby just been staring at his place that they were able to get everything already…?

“And unlike back home,” Yang said, forcing Ruby’s suitcase into her own hands, “we get to use our Quirks.” That made Ruby’s eyes widen.

“Are you serious?!” Back home you needed at least a provisional license to do that! Sure, little kids were let off the hook because they couldn’t control their Quirks but—! Ruby’s joy only grew when Yang nodded.

“Just keep in mind we are in public,” Weiss reminded the youngest of the four. “And be careful.”

Ruby swiftly nodded, rose petals already forming in her hair. “I will be!”

Blake sighed, shifting her suitcase in her hand. “Our hotel should be somewhere nearby…”

“Don’t worry I’ve got that covered,” said Weiss. She pulled out her phone from a pouch on her belt. After a few taps, she pulled up an address, flashing the screen to the rest of her friends. “It’s not that far from the island’s main tower. We’ll be there in no time.”

“Then let’s get going,” said Yang. “I think if we waste any more time, Ruby’s gonna explode.”

“I am not going to explode,” Ruby countered with a huff. Yang chuckled, ruffling her sister's hair while the girls began to follow Weiss in the direction of their hotel. They weren’t that far away from the airport’s entrance when a group of people rushed past them. Ruby glanced over her shoulder at the commotion they were causing outside of the airport. It was a pretty large crowd that they had made.

Part of Ruby wondered what was going on.

“Ruby!” That brought her back to attention.

“Uh— Coming!” Paying the crowd no further mind, Ruby picked up her pace to catch up with everyone else. The sooner they checked in, the sooner Ruby could absorb all she could of I-Island.

* * *

The girls quickly checked into their hotel and dropped off their things in their room. Now free from that obligation, Ruby found herself practically rushing towards the expo’s pavilion set up in the middle of the island. There was so much that she wanted to do and see…

But, as soon as Weiss was able to catch up, she revealed that there was somewhere they had to go first before anywhere else: an exhibit on the latest support items. Apparently she had to take a look at these for her family’s company. Ruby wasn’t complaining. As long as they got out there she was fine with anything.

Well… as soon as they got there and started looking around, Ruby caught sight of one thing to complain about. In her hand, Weiss had a small, black notebook. Ruby originally thought that it was just for that: taking notes on the support items in order to report it back to her family’s company. Perhaps to scout out new designers to work for them. But, little by little, as they walked around, Ruby noticed that Weiss was glancing over at her friends whenever she wrote anything down, often taking them by the arm to observe their costume in one way or another.

Ruby took another look at that little black book. The snowflake on the front cover, the pen scribble underneath it… she knew what it was.

Especially now that Weiss has taken Ruby by the arm for the twelfth time just to examine some part of her hero costume. And making notes in that little book of hers.

That notebook was the same one Weiss had brought over when Ruby had asked her to take a look at her hero costume before school began. In its pages were every second idea that came to the heiress’s mind for improvements and even full designs for her friends’ hero costumes.

“Maybe make your knee braces attached to your boots… no, that wouldn't work, would it?” Weiss muttered in a very Midoriya-esque fashion as she went about, examining bits and pieces of Ruby’s sleeve. “Yang mentioned something about your scraping up your hands, too, so possibly gloves? ...Oh! goggles might help your vision with how fast you go—”

“Weiss!” Ruby groaned, shaking her off. Weiss took a step back. “It’s fine how it is. Besides, you help me design this costume! I thought you were okay with how it came out…”

“That was then, and this is now,” said Weiss with a huff. “There are always things that can be improved or changed.”

“Give it up Ruby, just let her do her thing,” said Yang, fidgeting with one of the braces of her own costume. The girls continued on to the next exhibit on display. “Weiss is responsible for about ninety percent of the changes to our suits.”

“I’m responsible for _all_ the changes made to your costumes.”

Blake rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle. “You are such a mother hen.”

“I just want to make sure that you guys are safe!” Weiss slowed down, stopping in front of the latest exhibit, ice-like eyes focused on the support item it displayed. “And being here is only giving me ideas…” Blake only crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, glancing down at the book Weiss held.

“I seriously can’t believe you brought that notebook with you…”

“Why wouldn’t I bring it with me?” said Weiss matter-of-factly. She fell into conversation with Blake, with Yang throwing in her two cents every now and then. Ruby… wasn’t sure about most of it. She took a few steps away, looking over one of the displays nearby.

Some of the stuff here… it was absolutely amazing. How could people come up with stuff like this? What even made them think of inventions like this? Was it something small or something big? Was it in a dream, or did something happen? Did someone… Did someone get hurt?

Ruby began to wonder if Weiss had a point when she said that there could be changes made to her hero costume. She looked down at it, tugging on her jumpsuit’s sleeve. She thought about her fight with the infamous Hero Killer shortly after the Sports Festival, and how badly her hands got scraped up. She thought about the fight she found herself in during her final exams just a ew weeks ago, where her arms became her shield against her opponent's cane.

...Maybe gloves? Oh, and arm braces, to. She already had braces on her legs, since those were the main part of her body she fought with. She could use something like that on her arms, too…

Ruby’s train of thought was cut off when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Three somethings actually — a round-faced girl with short brown hair, a punk rocker with earphone jacks dangling from her earlobes, and an elegant girl with her long black hair tied up wearing what Ruby still thought was a very revealing hero costume.

Ochako Uraraka, Kyoka Jirou and Momo Yaoyorozu… also known as her friends and classmates.

Ruby couldn’t stop herself from grinning when she spotted them. Not thinking much about it the speedy red riding hood rushed over to them, waving happily.

“Hey, you guys!” she called out, feeling the slightest bit of petal prick her skin. Familiar faces turned to her, and eyes lit up.

“Rose!” “Ruby!” the girls cried out of surprise. Ruby got caught by Ochako, who ended up spinning on her heel from the force of the impact. Going by the grins they had on their faces a second later, Ruby’s appearance had been a good surprise.

“I didn’t realize you were going to be here!” said Ochako, finally releasing Ruby from her arms.

“Consider it a surprise,” Ruby said with a grin. In all the excitement over getting invited to the expo herself, Ruby had nearly forgotten that her friends were going to be here, too. ...that was until she saw them, anyway.

“How are you here?” asked Yaoyorozu. “When I told the girls about tickets, you declined.” She did? ...Oh, right! Yaoyorozu has received tickets for the expo’s preview, too, because of her family’s business. She had asked the girls of 1-A to come along with her. All of them accepted, but in Ruby’s case...

“That’s because I already had an invite. Some friends in 3-A got invited, so they took my sister and me along as plus ones.”

“That’s awesome!” Ochako said with bright eyes. Ruby giggled, happy to see that her friends were just as happy to see her as she was them. ...Especially since she could talk to them easier than she could her older friends.

Ruby loved Yang, and both Weiss and Blake were like sisters to her. However,the few years between them also meant that the older girls have more experience with things than her. It was hard to understand what they were talking about when it comes down to heroics or relationships or things like that in general. Ruby was still just dipping her toes in the pool while they were at the deep end.

It’s not like that when she’s with her classmates in 1-A. They were still on the edge with her.

Jirou snapped her fingers in front of Ruby’s face to bring her back to the present.

“Huh?” Ruby blinked. “Oh, sorry. Did you say something?”

“I asked you where your friends were,” said Jirou. “Shouldn’t you guys be together if you came together?” Well yeah. But they were right over—! Ruby gleaned over her shoulder. Yang, Weiss and Blake were no longer in front of the display they were at earlier. A pit dropped into her stomach.

Oh no. Where’d they go?!

“If they’re here, then we’ll probably find them,” said Ochako. “Come on, let’s go check out the exhibits!” Ruby let out a small yelp as her friend took her by the hand and started leading her on forward. She heard Jirou and Yaoyorozu chuckle at this before following.

After wandering around a bit, Ruby remembered that her phone was tucked away in the silver pouch on her belt. She dug it out while walking with the other girls. Unlocking the screen she was immediately greeted with a few text messages from Yang, Weiss and Blake each. Ruby sighed. Okay, maybe she should’ve said something sooner.

Ruby quickly fired something off, letting them know that she’s alright and she actually met up with a few of her friends at the expo. However, no sooner after she hit send, did something catch the corner of Ruby’s eyes. She blinked, staring at it.

 _I recognize those green curls…_ she thought, stashing her phone away, _or as Yang puts it, that head of broccoli._

“Hey,” Ruby tugged on Ochako’s skin-tight sleeve. The best she could without pinching her friend’s skin. She gestured over to her latest discovery. “Isn’t that Midoriya?”

“Deku?” Ochako said, making Ruby nod. The girls turned to face where Ruby was pointing. They stared for a moment, but Ruby was right. It’s one Izuku Midoriya, talking animatedly with a blonde, blue-eyed girl wearing glasses. She didn’t look that much older than Yang, in Ruby’s opinion.

“What’s he doing here?” mused Jirou, arms crossed and a brow raised.

“Who’s that girl he’s with?” Yaoyorozu asked. Ruby only could shrug. Jirou, however, took the initiative. Her Quirk allowed her to use the earphone jacks dangling from her earlobes to hear even the quietest of sounds. And she was sending one of them right in Midoriya’s direction.

The girls held their breath.

“Sounds like he’s on a date,” Jirou said after a moment, pulling back her jack. The rest of the girls’ eyes went wide.

“A…” Ochako's face flared up pink. “A-A date?” Ruby was still surprised by the whole thing. She always thought that Midoriya didn’t have it in him to ask a girl on a date. But still… How was he here?

“I say we crash it,” Jirou suggested with a bit of ice in her voice.

“That seems a bit rude, doesn’t it?” said Yaoyorozu. She was right, but the whole date thing wasn’t what Ruby was really focused on.

“You know,” Ruby mused, crossing her arms behind her back, “I’m mostly wondering why he’s here.” You need an invitation or to be a plus one to access the expo earlier, after all. What kind of connections did he have that he managed to do that?

“Why didn’t he say anything…?” Ochako uttered, still somewhat zoned out. Ruby nodded at that. There was also that. She understood completely how the girls got their tickets, but with Midoriya… he didn’t have any real connections to anyone who would possibly be here. Not that Ruby could think of, anyway. The only real person that came to mind was—

Wait. Maybe Midoriya’s close relationship with All Might had something to do with it? They were uncharastically close for a teacher and student that it made Ruby wonder if they were related in some way.

...and only now did Ruby realize what was going on when she had been nudged forward by one of Jirou’s jacks. She and the other girls were quietly sneaking up on Midoriya, preparing for a confrontation. Jirou nudged Ochako to the front of the pack to get his attention, something which Yaoyorozu and Ruby both urged her to do.

“Looks like you’re having fun…” said Ochako after the silent encouragement of the others, although she still didn’t sound confident, “Deku.” Midoriya jumped almost ten feet in the air at the sound of her voice. He whirled around, his date doing the same though she was less surprised than he was about it.

“Uraraka?!” Midoriya exclaimed, his face going red with embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

“It looks like you’re having fun.”

“You said that.” Okay, well, Ochako was too flustered to say anything. Ruby cleared her throat, saving her friend and drawing Midoriya’s attention to the rest of the girls. The boy’s face drained of color. “R-Rose!?”

“Midoriya,” Ruby simply fired back.

“You appear to be having a good time,” added Yaoyorozu. At Midoriya’s bewildered expression, Jirou began to twirl one of her earphone jacks around her fingers.

“Midoriya,” she said as she did so, “I heard everything.”

“Jirou’s earphone jack…” Midoriya droned, “the ultimate spy tech!” At her date’s defeat the blonde girl accompanying Midoriya stepped up to his side.

“Are these your friends?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah. These are my classmates… And I didn’t tell them I’d be here.” Midoriya rubbed at the back of his head, turning back to his friends. He gestured to the blonde girl beside him. “Oh guys, this is my friend Melissa. She was just showing me around the expo a little bit.” The girl softly smiled in the others’ direction.

“Nice to meet you. My dad and Uncle Might are really good—” Midoriya let out a yelp, quickly cutting Melissa off. He rushed over to her side pulling her down and whispering something to her. 

Uncle what? Ruby glanced over at Jirou hoping that she could pick up on what they were saying. Jirou only shrugged. Okay, private conversation. Whatever Midoriya was saying to Melissa made her nod. She chuckled nervously as both of them stood back up again.

“Let’s try that again,” sad Melissa, sounding a bit sheepish. “Like I said, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Melissa Shield.”

 _Shield…?_ There was something about that name that sounded really familiar… Especially considering that they’re here. Something about that name and the island… As Ruby racked her brain for the answer the three girls went around introducing themselves to Melissa one by one.

“And lastly, this is Ruby Rose,” said Midoriya, gesturing to her. Ruby said nothing, still lost in her train of thought. Wait.. maybe Melissa was…?

“Hey, Ruby?” Ochako said as she nudged her, snapping Ruby back to reality. Her cheeks went a bit red when she realized that she had zoned out.

“Oh, sorry! I was just thinkin’ about something,” Ruby said rather quickly, hoping to diffuse the situation. But at least she had some sort of answer for the familiarity in Melissa’s name… she hoped. “Um, Melissa? Is your dad David Shield by any chance?”

“David Shield?” Ochako repeated, getting a nod from Ruby. That’s what she said.

“He’s one of the top research scientists for support items. He won a Nobel Quirk Prize for all his hard work. He was even All Might’s sidekick when he lived in the U.S.!” Ruby only then realized that all eyes were on her. Her face flushed with pink. “...Sorry.” She might’ve gotten a little bit loud…

“No, it’s alright. But yeah, he is my dad,” Melissa said with a giggle. She turned to Midoriya. “I can see how you two get along so well.” Midoriya went red at Melissa’s teasing.

“Um, y-yeah…” Midoriya laughed weakly, “please stop.” Melissa only chuckled again. Ruby felt herself crack a smile, too.

It was nice that they were all together like this. Especially since the last bonding experience she had with her classmates ended up being ruined by a villain encounter. But right now, there were miles away from Japan, miles away from any criminals and more importantly, miles and miles away from the—

“There you are.” Ruby perked up at the sound of that voice. She turned. Yang, Weiss and Blake were approaching, each with somewhat relieved looks on their face. Ruby grinned herself, not having heard Yaoyorozu sharply gasp when her own classmates spotted the older three.

“Oh, hey!” called out Ochako, somewhat happy to see the upperclassmen finding their fourth member.

“Senpai!” Midoriya exclaimed. Oh, right… they didn't tell him that they were here….

“Senpai…?” Melissa repeated.

“Uh— Our upperclassmen.” Yang blinked, staring at the group of kids surrounding her sister. After a moment, if at all possible, her grin grew wider.

“Hey! It’s the 1-A Brigade!” she said as she, Weiss and Blake finally met with the group. Her eyes fell on Jirou, Yaoyorozu and Melissa. “And a few others.”

Ruby shook her head. “Nope! They’re members of our class, too! This is Jirou and Yaoyorozu!”

Jirou gave the upperclassmen a simple, short wave. “Hey.”

Ruby turned to her friends. “Guys, I want you to meet my sister Yang, her friend Blake and—”

“Ms. Schnee!” ...Well, Yaoyorozu seemed to have found her voice again. Blake winced at the sound of Weiss’s family name, while Yang groaned. Weiss, however, kept up a practiced and calm expression.

“It’s nice to see you again, Momo,” she said, slipping into a much more professional tone than Ruby was used to hearing. “I trust you and your family are doing well?”

“Um, yes! Very!” Yaoyorozu… honestly, it was rare for Ruby to see her son flustered like this. How did she even know Weiss’s name? “I didn't know you were going to be here. Winter possibly…”

“It was a… last minute decision.” It was only then that Ruby looked over to Midoriya. She could see the gears in his mind at work already. Recalling the close call they had with him and Weiss earlier in the year…

Oh no. A look of realization crossed Midoriya’s face as it finally clicked, with Ruby unable to do anything to stop him. 

“I thought you looked familiar when we first met!” he said with a snap of his fingers. “You’re the heir to the Schnee Support Company! Weiss Schnee!” With a strained smile, Weiss nodded.

“Schnee Support Company?” Ochako repeated. Ruby bit down on her lip. Oh no…!

“It's one of the largest support companies in the world!” Midoriya’s eyes were sparkling as he explained. “They produce and distribute a majority of support items for heroes. I had a feeling they'd be here; they're always putting out top-of-the-line gear! But I had no idea…” He chuckled, turning to Weiss with a nervous look. “I feel kind of stupid for not realizing it before…”

“To be fair,” said Ruby. “I did derail your train of thought every time you came close.”

“Huh? Seriously?” Midoriya blinked, a brow raised as Ruby nodded in confirmation. “Why would you do that?”

“Well…” Ruby glanced over at Weiss. There was no way to get the cat back in the bag now. Weiss let out a sigh, resigned to her current situation at hand as her smile slipped away.

“I’d prefer if you keep that to yourselves. My family name and my connection to the company, that is,” she said. “I'd rather keep my private life to myself and enjoy my time here without getting pulled aside by… business associates. It's more so a nice vacation with friends.”

Ruby covered her left eye, gesturing over to Weiss and nuding Midoriya while doing so. Hopefully he understood what he was trying to tell her.

Weiss had a very similar situation to Todoroki, something Ruby had shared with him earlier in the year, although never dropped who it was until now. Weiss wanted her family name to remain a secret to avoid being tied to the father — the company’s head — that she despised so much. Just like Todoroki wanted to distance himself from his own.

Ruby assumed her silent tell worked, since a look swept the elation from Midoriya’s face, replacing it with understanding. “My lips are sealed!”

“Oh. Sorry…” Yaoyorozu went red in the face, clasping her fingers together. “I had no idea that you were here for personal reasons…”

Weiss let out a sigh. “You're fine, Momo. Don't worry about it.”

“Yeah, and with Midoriya's head moving at a mile per minute, it was bound to happen eventually,” commented Yang. Weiss responded by sharply elbowling her in the ribs. “Ow!” Yang rubbed at the spot, which Ruby doubted actually hurt due to how defense-based her costume was.

“Um…” Melissa cleared her throat to break the tension that was now hovering over the group, “how about we all grab some tea at the café?”

Blake sighed. “That sounds great.”

Tension rolled off of Ruby’s shoulders as the group started to leave the exhibit hall. Well, not exactly how she wanted to start things out, but at least a crisis had been avoided. ...though, she would probably have to explain the whole situation as best she could to Midoriya at a later date. ...and hopefully he didn’t ask any further questions about Weiss.

* * *

Lucky for them, the café wasn’t too far outside of the island’s main expo center. It was spacious, and the outside seating was mostly empty today. Everyone must have been too caught up in the sights and displays to actually sit down and eat. The group took full advantage of this, snatching up at least two tables for themselves.

The girls, much to Ruby’s relief, were getting along amazingly with each other. As soon as the issues of Weiss’s name were sidestepped around, things got more comfortable. Especially so when the topic fell upon their lives as student heroes. Melissa’s eyes had gone wide with one simple revelation from Ochako after the older girls asked about 1-A’s endeavors back towards the end of May.

“Wow… you really got to work with Pro Heroes?” she said, amazed by the story of the kids’ internships earlier in the year. “Like… out in the field?!”

Ochako shook her head. “Just normal training and a few patrols.”

“I helped out with a hostage crisis,” said Jirou before she shrugged, “but only the evacuation part.”

“That’s still amazing, though,” said Melissa. Ruby bit down on her lip as the events of what happened with her own internship played in her head. Yeah… probably best to stay quiet about the whole thing like she was supposed to.

Yaoyorozu let out a short groan. “Somehow I ended up in a TV commercial for hair products…” 

“Sounds like an experience. Lucky.” Ruby’s eyes lit up a little. If they were talking about working with heroes then—

“If you want to talk about experience, you can ask these guys,” Ruby gestured to the upperclassmen sitting on the opposite end of the table. “They get to work with Pros as student heroes!”

Jirou’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“It’s something that you guys have to look forward to as part of your hero training,” Blake told her with a nod. “Second years usually get something called a provisional license that allows them to work out in the field as a part of a work study. You get to be sidekicks rather than interns.”

“Wicked.”

“It must be quite the life,” said Melissa, leaning up against the table.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” Yang replied with a shrug. “Makes the whole thing feel more real, you know? And it's a great way to get combat experience, too.”

“But it’s like I said earlier,” said Weiss, side-eyeing Ruby and Yang, “we’re just here to relax for a while during our summer break.”

Yaoyorozu straightened up, still feeling a bit bad about outing Weiss like she did early. “Absolutely!”

Jirou turned to their senpai. “We were thinking about going to check out the pavilion where the academy’s exhibit is tomorrow if you guys wanna join us.”

“That sounds great, Jirou,” said Blake after getting short nods from the other two girls beside her.

“I’m really excited!” said Ochako, just about jumping out of her seat. The only one Ruby expected to get excited about the prospect of everything hadn’t spoken up at all. Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby spotted said person. A distraught-looking Midoriya was sitting over at another table all on his lonesome. Not wanting this to go on for much longer, Ruby got up and walked over to him.

“Hey,” Ruby put a hand on his shoulder, making him jump at the sudden touch, “you okay, Midoriya?”

“What?! Yeah!” Midoriya sat up straight, and Ruby pulled back. Was he blushing? “Fine! Just fine. Hehe…” Okay, if he was sure… A glass was placed in front of Midoriya, the group’s orders having finally arrived. 

“Thanks for waiting…!” said the waiter with a grin. Hold up a moment… Ruby knew that voice. The kids of 1-A turned to the waiter in question: golden eyes, electrifying grin and messy blonde hair with a telltale black streak.

Ruby grinned upon seeing another member of her class in front of her. “Hey, Kaminari!”

Denki Kaminari grinned in return.

“What are you doing here?” asked Jirou.

“They needed extra wait staff, and since it meant a free trip to the island, I applied to work,” Kaminari explained. “I get to wander around the expo on my breaks and make some money while I’m at it.” He stopped, cutting himself off short when he spotted the third years and Melissa sitting nearby.

Yang nonchalantly raised her hand with a peace sign. “Yo.”

“Hey, Midoriya,” Kaminari nudged the boy in question, not taking his eyes off of the other girls. “Who’re the high voltage hotties?”

“Well,” Midoriya rugs a hand over the back of his neck, “they’re um…”

“Kaminari,” Ruby began, stepping in to save Midoriya from stammering over an explanation. She hoppe up and sat on the table. “That’s my sister.”

“And our senpai—” Kaminari’s face went flush.

“S-Senpai…?” He stuttered, getting a nod from Midoriya.

“Is he also your classmate?” Melissa asked the girls around her. Kaminari took a second to recover from his initial shock. He rushed over to the rest of hte girls, cutting them off before they could provide an answer. 

“That’s right!” Kaminari sounded smooth, like he just hadn’t been stunned by the revelation of meeting his upperclassmen here at all. Yang stared at him, leaning back in her chair so far that she had to balance it on hit legs.

“Hey… I think I remember you,” she said, “Aren’t you that kid with the electric Quirk from the Sports Festival? The one who got his ass handed to him from that vine girl because he overused his Quirk, right?” Ruby hid a giggle as Kaminari froze in place.

“I think so,” said Blake, grabbing the back of Yang’s chair and pushing her forward so that it was on all fours again.

“No,” Weiss said with a shake of her head, “he was.” Ruby bit back a snicker. Rejected on all fronts…

“Uh..!” Kaminari was left just about speechless. So close, and he still failed! Unlike Ruby, though, Jirou didn’t hold back her laughter. “It’s not funny, Jirou!”

“Why are you slacking off?! You wanted to make more money, didn’t you?!” Ruby sat up straight. That voice… Kaminari let out a yelp as the voice’s owner zoomed by, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him away from the girls. “But you’re not willing to work hard?!”

“Iida!” she said happily. Sure enough, in all his armoured glory, Tenya Iida had made an appearance on the island as well.

“You’re here, too?” Ochako asked. Iida let go on Kaminari’s shirt.

“I come from a long line of heroes,” he explained as he straightened up. “It’s to be expected that we received an invitation to the expo. But my family was busy. So it’s just me.”

Yaoyorozu leaned back a bit in her chair. “I wondered if you’d be here. I received an invitation because my father’s a shareholder in some of the expo’s sponsor companies. It’s so fun to get to go to the preview.”

“Yeah, and she had a few extra plus ones, so we basically gambled for them,” Jirou added on. She leaned on Ochako's shoulder. “So, after an impartial game of chance,the two of us ended up joining the fun as her guests.” Ochako nodded to confirm this and Jirou smirks. So that’s how that happened…

“The other girls are here,” added Ochako, “they just can’t visit the preview.”

“Are they?” Ruby asked, excited at the prospect of seeing more of her friends here. chako aain noded. “That’s awesome!”

“We’re all planning to look around together once the expo opens up to the public tomorrow,” said Yaoyorozu. She turned to the older girls. “Again, you’re welcome to join us if you want, senpai!”

There was a pale pink on Weiss’s face. “Momo—”

“We already said that we’d walk around with you guys,” Yang cut in, reminding the younger of their earlier promise.

It was Yaoyorozu's turn to go red. “Oh, right, sorry.”

“Here’s a thought,” Melissa leaned forward on the table, resting her cheek in her hand as attention was drawn to her. “Why don’t I show you all the sights?” The girls’ eyes lit up at this suggestion. Having someone who lived on the island herself show them around? That was such a rare chance!

“You’re sure you have time?” Ochako asked. The hype only grew when Melissa nodded.

“That’s awesome!” exclaimed the 1-A girls.

“Thanks, Melissa,” said Weiss while the other two beside her just grinned, though Blake’s was more subdued.

“Please take me with you!” Kaminari asked, most likely wanting to just spend time with the older girls. Before Melissa could reply, however, a loud boom sho the ground beneath them. Blake, Weiss and Yang were on their feet in an instant.

“Whoa,” Midoriya swiftly stood up following his senpai doing the same, “what was that noise?!” 

There was smoke coming from a nearby attraction. The kids raced over there as quickly as they could to see the cause of it, leaving Kaminari to go back to work.

The attraction itself was a stadium designed to look like a mountain. In the center of it was an sunken arena blocked off by a railing. Holographic screens lingered in the air to display what’s going on down below, even though both are covered in smoke. The group headed down as far as they could to see what was going on only to be stopped by the railing.

“A clearance time of thirty-three seconds!” said a preppy announcer down below. “He’s in eighth place!” The smoke in the arena finally started to settle. A figure stood in the middle of it, and as more dust settled, Ruby realized that the silhouette she had seen was very familiar. 

“Kirishima?!” Midoriya exclaimed. Sure enough, standing down below was the spiky red headed king of optimism in 1-A, Eijirou Kirishima.

“So I’m guessing he’s from U.A. as well?” asked Melissa. Ruby nodded.

“Yup,” she replied, “he’s in the same class as us!”

“Please welcome our next challenger!” the announcer’s voice down below echoed out. The next person stepped up to the plate, and a gasp got caught in Midoriya’s throat. Ruby’s eyes went wide.

“Kacchan?!” He was right. That face and that costume were undeniable. Katsuki Bakugo was here as well, and had failed to notice Midoriya calling out his nickname for him. As he confidently strode out onto the arena’s mountainous field Ruby leaned against the railing. Why was it not surprising to her that where Kirishima was, Bakugo was too?

“The Villain Attack course has been reset!” said the announcer with a twirl and a grin. She raised her hand. “Ready… Go!”

Bakugo didn’t waste a single moment after being given the signal to start. With his Quirk to propel him around, he blasted off of the ground. He attacked the faux villains with ease, blasting them apart with an explosion each.

The rest of the group joined Ruby and Midoriya at the railing, watching Bakugo go through the course.

“Isn’t that the boy you fought during the Sports Festival?” Weiss asked.

Ruby rested her cheek in her hand. “Yeah.”

At that reminder, she could feel the phantom sting of the burns she received on her legs as a result of the whole thing. During the semi-finals at the U.A. Sports Festival, she and Bakugo had faced off. In the end though, Bakugo’s Explosion and Ruby’s Petal Burst were a bad combination.

“Look at that time!” said the announcer with wide eyes as Bakugo completed the course. “Only fifteen seconds! First place!” Cheers erupted from the crowd as Bakugo dropped down on the ground. There was a confident smirk painted across his face, satisfied with his score. As he walked back over to where Kirishima was waiting for him, Kirishima caught sight of the group waiting at the railing.

“Hey, check out who’s in the stands!” he said with a sharp-toothed grin. Well, the cat was out of the bag now. Ruby waved down to her classmate, while Midoriya simply laughed nervously the second her locked eyes with his childhood friend. Bakugo’s prideful mood shifted in that instant. He blasted up to the railing, grabbing it and bracing himself upon it. Ruby yelped at him getting so close, jumping back off.

“Dammit!” shouted the boy, “What are you doing here, Deku?!” Wow, was his tunnel vision that bad that it focused on Midoriya alone?

Midoriya began to quickly back up. “Uh, hey there, Kacchan! Maybe calm down a little—”

“Don’t you tell me what to do!”

Iida quickly slid in-between the two, doing his best to keep Bakugo from lunging at Midoriya, “Bakugo, behave yourself!”

“Wow,” said Melissa as Bakugo yelled at Iida, just about ready to blast him apart. “Why does that boy sound so angry?”

Jirou only shrugged. “That’s just who he is.”

“He and Deku are fated rivals,” Ochako explained. Ruby nodded in agreement. Childhood friends turned bitter rivals… ...that kind of sounded like something out of a sports anime or something, now that she thought about it.

“Rivals or not,” Weiss huffed, “this is getting a little out of hand, don’t you think?” It took Ruby a second to realize what her friend was about to do.

“Weiss, please don’t—” Ruby was cut off when Blake put a hand over her mouth. The cat girl smirked.

“Do it,” she said, much to Ruby’s muffled protest. Weiss smirked as she raised her palm. Much like with what she did on the first day of school, Bakugo became trapped within the confines of a white snowflake-style glyph that yanked him back away from Midoriya.

“Hey!” Bakugo growled, kicking at the ground and thrashing around as Ruby groaned. She pried Blake’s hand off of her just as Bakugo spotted the group. “Let me go, princess!”

“You need to calm down first,” Weiss told him, which earned her what Ruby could only describe as a ‘death glare’ from Bakugo.

“Weiss…” Ruby sighed. There was no use arguing with them about this, was there. Instead, she walked over to the edge where Kirishima was. She crouched down closer to him. “Hey, Kirishima,” he hummed, looking up at her. “Did you guys get invited, too?”

“Nah, Bakugo was invited since he won the U.A. Sports Festival,” Kirishima replied with a shake of his head. He grinned. “I just tagged along with ‘im! You guys gonna do this villain course or what?”

“Don’t even try it,” barked Bakugo before Ruby could answer, though he was still struggling to free himself from Weiss’s glyph. “There’s no way you’ll get a better score than I did!”

Midoriya sighed, looking a bit more relaxed now that he wasn’t in immediate danger of getting blown up. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Huh, I’m not so sure,” said Ochako with a shrug. “Only one way to find out I guess.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” There was a moment. It took Midoriya only a second to realize what he had said, eyes going wide. That seemed to be the tipping point for Bakugo. Only when he stopped struggling did Weiss let him go.

Bakugo hit the ground, on the opposite side of the railing this time. “Just hurry and get your damn pathetic attempt over with you damn nerd!” He pushed Iida out of his awy in order to properly glare at Midoriya. “Then you get out of here!”

“Right! I’ll do that!” Midoriya rushed to the railing’s edge and leapt over it. He spoke quickly to the announcer, explaining the situation to her. She seemed to understand, letting Midoriya step up to try the course for himself. Ruby suspected she had heard Bakugo yelling about it the entire time.

“We’ve got a new challenger coming in at the last minute!” said the announcer. “Will he come out on top? or will he fail in front of the entire expo?!” Ruby grinned. Getting to see Midoriya’s Quirk in action always felt like a treat.

Red energy started to creep up the boy’s body, building up from the tips of his toes to the topmost green curl. As soon as it coated it, that energy turned into the crackling green electricity of his Superpower: a technique that he had called Full Cowling.

As soon as the attack course had been reset Midoriya was given the signal to go. He rushed into the artificial fight like he had done it a million times before. The boy zoomed and zippe around the course destroying robots with blow after blow after blow. It was almost like he was a blur with how fast he was going. In the end, Midoriya clocked in at sixteen seconds, right under Bakugo’s own time. The group of hero course and support students watching him were in awe at his performance.

“Wow!” gasped Ochako and Midoriya leapt up to the railing, actually making it back up with a helpful hand from both Yang and Blake.

“That was a good showing, Midoriya,” Iida added.

“Nice one, Deku!” Ruby told him with a grin.

Midoriya was red in the face by the time he reunited with his friends. “I didn’t think I’d be able to get so close to Kacchan’s time!”

“What?! No way!” Bakugo barked, faint sparks dancing on his palm. “I’ll go again and blast your score to ash!” Before Midoriya could retort, someone else spoke up in his place.

“I could try,” Yang said with her hand raised. Eyes fell on her as she stepped up to the railing besides Bakugo. The latter was glaring at her.

“And who the hell are you?!” Ruby stared between the two loud blondes. ...Oh no.

Only now did she realize that this was the first time Bakugo had met her sister. And Ruby didn’t like the smirk that Yang had on her face as she lowered teh goggles perched atop her head over her eyes.

“Just call me Firecracker, kid.” With a ‘hup’, Yang jumped over the railing. She approached the announcer, letting her know that she was going to take the course next. Blake smirked hersel, leaning against the railing.

“This should be good…” she said. Kirishima raised a brow as he joined her, a curious innocence in his eyes.

“What makes you say that?” he asked. Blake’s smirk grew more amused.

“Just watch.”

Bakugo growled, muttering several choice words under his breath before finally saying out loud: “Just who the hell is she?!”

No one said anything as the announcer gave Yang the signal to start. And Yang herself smirked, the ever pleasant and proud grin right at home on her face.

She charged forward, almost immediately jumping up into the air. She somersaulted before bringing her leg down on her first opponent. Yang then turned and uppercutted another one with a short grunt, following it up with a spinning kick that sent the next two tumbling down the mountain.

Yang struck the first one in front of her with a heavy blow, kicking behind the remains into another behind her. She swept another bot out from under its mechanical feet. She punched one up into the air, only to slam it back down into the ground with the heel of her boot. Yang took a couple of steps back before launching herself off of another faux villain. She broke through their defenses with ease and uppercutted another one.

She flew forward towards another group of enemies, elbowing one and kicking another away. She swung around and punched another one. It was a flurry of blows that had flames licking Yang’s hair and her eyes dotted with red.

She punched a bot, uppercutting it into the air just as the buzzer went off. That was the last one. Baugo simply stood there, staring at Yang with wide eyes. Ruby wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“Nineteen seconds!” cried out the announcer as Yang stood up straight. The blonde jumped down from her position and began to jog her way over to her friends with a proud smile. “She’s made it into third place!”

“Whoa!” breathed Kirishima, wide-eyed at the elder student’s display.

“That’s our senpai!” Ochako cheered.

“Way to go, Yang!” Ruby called out.

“Wait…” Kirishima glanced over at the others, “senpai?!” Ruby nodded.

“My sister.” That made Kirishima's eyes go wide.

“That’s your sister?!” Ruby nodded once again, although with a little more pride this time. Her sister was awesome.

As Weiss helped Yang back up with a few glyphs, the announcer let out a yelp. The kids turned back to the scene at hand, and it didn’t take them long enough to figure out what had startled the woman so much. Ice was rapidly covering the arena, freezing all faux villains caught in its path.

“This is insane!” cried the announcer in shock. Wait.. Ruby stared at the spectacle. She recognized that ice. “Fourteen seconds! This gentleman has jumped to the top of the pack!”

Down below in the arena was a certain boy with dual-colored hair and dual-colored eyes. Yup, theory confirmed.

“Todoroki’s here, too?” said Midoriya as the boy below exhaled a puff of steam.

“Another one from U.A.?” asked Melissa.

“Yup,” said Yaoyorozu with a nod.

“Your class is amazing. You’re going to be such great heroes.” The girls grew somewhat flustered, varying shades of red coating their faces. Yang chuckleed, wringing the back of her neck as she blushed

“Oh, please,” Yaoyorozu turned away with pink cheeks, “You’re too kind…” Without much warning, Bakugo blasted off and down into the arena.

“Out of the way, IcyHot bastard!” he barked, anger making his palms spark more than they should. Todoroki turned upon hearing the shout. If he was surprised to see his fellow classmates there, he never showed it.

“Bakugo,” he said as the boy landed in front of him.

“You can’t just appear outta nowhere and show me up!”

Todoroki simply peered around Bakugo. “And I see the others are here, too.”

“Hey, Mini-Weiss!” Yang called out, waving to the half-and-half boy below. Weiss raised a brow as she glanced over at Yang, who merely shrugged. Well… the nickname wasn’t inaccurate. Todoroki simply waved back at her.

Bakugo didn’t exactly like that. “Don’t ignore me! What are you even doing on the island anyway?”

“My father was invited,” Todoroki explained, “so I’m representing him.” The announcer for the course made the mistake of approaching the two boys, looking nervous as she did so.

“Um, the next person is waiting…” she said only really trying to do her job. Ruby felt bad for the woman when Bakugo turned to her with a fire in his eye that she only saw during the Sports Festival.

“Shut up! I’m doing it again!” he shouted. Ruby didn’t even need to be down there to pick up on the tension growing thicker.

Iida rushed down to help control the situation. “Everyone, please stop! You’re going to make the world think that U.A.’s full of degenerates!”

Midoriya and Kirishima followed not long after, leaping over the railing to help get control on their resident hothead. Much to Ruby’s surprise, she heard Melissa begin giggling at the sight. 

“Is something funny?” Weiss asked, crossing her arms and letting a bit of ice fall into her words.

It took Melissa a second to realize what she was doing. “Oh. Sorry to laugh. I’m just thinking that it looks like you have a whole lot of fun at your school.” There was a beat.

“Well, it’s…” Yaoyorozu started, looking down at the scene below them: Kirishima was holding back a thrashing Bakugo, “never boring, I’ll say that.”

“True,” said both Ochako and Jirou in agreement. Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I’m going to go help them,” she said before promptly jumping over the railing. It took her another second to catch Bakugo in yet another glyph, which only served to make him matter. Ruby, eventually, jumped down as well to hopefully do something to ease the tension.

Yaoyorozu, Jirou and Ochako… Midoriya… Kaminari and Iida… Kirishima, Bakugo and Todoroki, too. They were all here. They were all together. Ruby had wanted plenty of time to spend some time with her classmates without anything bad happening. But nothing bad could happen on I-Island. It was too well protected. The important thing to Ruby was that she was together with her friends.

Something told Ruby that this was going to be one vacation that she wouldn’t forget anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened with Ochako basically pulling Ruby into her group when she got seperated from her own is inspired by something that happened to me on my senior class trip. I'm a socially awkward person because of how I grew up, so no matter how open I am or all the friends I tend to make (long story short: I try to make friends with everyone I meet which acually helped me surivie high school), I tend to not know how to do most things when it comes to outings and stuff like that with people. I don't usually invite others out due to fear of rejection (a can of worms we will not open). Last day of the class trip, we went to this amusement park. I was pretty sure I was going to be walking around on my own -- not a good thing since I look younger than I am.  
> But a group of my classmates I was in drama club with basically took me by the hand and told me I could join them if i wanted to. I said yes, and had fun (despite being sunburnt on my shoulders from going to the beach the day before). It felt nice to be a part of the group.
> 
> So that's where that came from.
> 
> And I think as many of you who have seen the movie and read the tags will realize, Mineta's not a part of this. He got cut out because I found a way to do what he does in the movie with the RWBY girls. So, yes. He got the boot. Which I'm honestly happy about, because we all know what would've happened if he stayed in involving Yang. I don't want to think more about that beyond her punching him across a room.
> 
> Next!
> 
> Act 2: Invasion
> 
> “Weiss! How do you manage to fight in these?!”  
> “Not those exactly, but… practice.”
> 
> “Let’s get going! Fancy tuna, here I come!”  
> “Do you really think there will be fancy tuna there?”  
> “Most likely."
> 
> “That ain’t good."
> 
> "This is bad, guys."
> 
> "Alright, then it’s settled. Blake, Yang and I will take care of these villains and free the Pros in the process. We might have to figure it out as we go along, but it’s better than doing nothing right now."  
> “What do we do about the kids?”


	3. Invasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of their vacation was getting to join in on a fancy party with a bunch of heroes and important people... but unfortunately for the U.A. students, things don't always go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter contains me going into way too much details involving the girls' dresses (primarily Ruby's and Melissa's, but I digress), a bit of Kaminari's chronic foot-in-the-mouth, mentions of headcanons and the start of a villain invasion. If you've seen the movie, then you know where this is going. If you haven't, then... surprise!
> 
> We're getting ready for the good stuff that's going to come in the next few chapters, so I apologize if this cuts off a bit prematurely. All fights will be in the next three chapters, and I promise some good team-ups ahead and badass good girls.  
> .... I really don't have a lot to say here.
> 
> RWBY's formal wear can be seen on my tumblr if anyone wants to take a look at that. The link should be in the last chapter, I didn't want to put it in two chapters in a row.

It took a good couple of minutes and another of Weiss’s glyphs to calm down Bakugo. After that, things went rather smoothly for the rest of the afternoon with Melissa showing the group around the island. It was only when the sun began to set that the kids split up again.

Part of their passes to the expo included an invitation to a formal reception that was being held at the base of the main hub of the island — the tower that stood in the center of it. Before leaving, the group made a promise to meet up at the tower’s entrance and head to the reception together. After all, sharing nights like this with friends wasn’t something you got to experience every day.

As the Ruby and the three upperclassmen of U.A. walked away from everyone else to head back to their hotel, Weiss placed her hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“Hey, Ruby,” she began once she was sure she had the younger’s attention. “You remembered to pack formal wear, right?

“I…” Ruby started, only to drift off before she could even form a full sentence. She thought hard about the contents of her suitcase. Clothes for the next few days… enough pajamas… socks, toothbrush, hairbrush, meds — she definitely made sure she had that one. But formal wear…?

“Ruby, I told you this before we left,” said Yang. Ruby bit back a groan.

“...I might’ve forgotten.”

Weiss sighed, letting her hand fall. “I’m not really surprised…”

One of Blake’s ears flicked the air as she raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“I packed for Ruby in advance is what I mean.” Ruby let out a sigh, a bit relieved. When in doubt, she could count on Weiss. Weiss placed a glove hand on Ruby’s head, ruffling her hair. “Don’t worry about it now. Let’s just hope that what I chose is something you like.”

“Yeah…” Ruby said with another sigh. She trusted Weiss wholeheartedly when it came to clothing. After all, it was like she said earlier: Weiss came from a family of support item designers. She helped design Yang and Blake’s costumes, making them into what they are now. It was her input that led them to being safe and dependable suits, all while fitting the other girls’ aesthetics. So she should have a decent grasp on fashion, right?

...but still. It didn't mean that Ruby was looking forward to it. Wearing a dress… fine, she could do that. She wore skirts often. Even her hero costume included one. But formal wear was another story. ...and the heels. If she had to wear those… Ruby was going to lose her mind.

The second that the girls made it back to their hotel room, Yang darted into one of the bathrooms that the room had, taking only a second to grab a few bags and a case from her luggage. Ruby assumed that one of the bags contained hair care products. There was a faint memory of Yang worming her way around airport security just to bring it with her, with several bookmarked pages on her phone to help argue her point.

Blake let out a sigh as Yang shut and locked the door with a loud click, removing the mask on her face as she did so. Ruby began to strip herself of her hero costume as well, unpinning the silver roses that kept her cloak in place. Weiss, on the other hand, started going through the girls’ luggage. After a moment, She withdrew a black bag on a hanger.

“Here,” said Weiss bluntly, holding said bag out to Ruby. She stared at it, taking it after a moment. Ruby could make out something underneath. Was this her dress? It felt like some kind of clothing…

“Can’t I just wear my hero costume?” Ruby groaned. It made sense. This was a party where heroes would be. They would be wearing their costumes, too!

“Unfortunately for you, no.” Ruby sighed, frustrated. She held the bag close to her chest before trudging into the adjacent bathroom Yang chose not to occupy. She sighed again as she shut the door behind her.

Why did it have to be a fancy party?

Deciding not to think much more about it, Ruby quickly stripped herself of her hero costume. She took great care in lovingly folding it, placing the suit on the sink’s countertop so she didn’t have to go searching for the pieces later. And now… that bag.

Ruby turned to the black bag, finding a zipper holding it shut. With bated breath, she unzipped the bag and opened it. Inside was… well, actually, it was a surprise. Ruby was right in the fact that it was a dress, a pair of black, petal-patterned stockings tucked away in it… but…

The sight of it made Ruby smile. She took both the dress and the tights out, getting dressed as quickly as possible.

The dress Weiss had picked out was red and sleeveless with a thick black band around the waist. The upper part of the bodice was some sort of sheer black material that was lined with a softer, more opaque black fabric. There was some sort of petticoat skirt underneath, filling out the shape of it.

Ruby felt like time slowed down as she stared at herself in the mirror once she was done. The dress… fit her pretty well, actually. It was pretty, too… 

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Ruby,” came Blake’s voice from the other side, followed by another knock, “is everything okay there? You've been in there awhile.”

“Um…” Had she? “Yeah, hold on a second!” Ruby gathered up her hero costume pieces and stepped out. Weiss had already changed into a sleeveless blue evening gown, decorated with enough glitter to make her look like starlight. Blake was changing into a dark suit, buttoning up a rich purple dress shirt. Both girls stopped what they were doing when Ruby emerged.

Ruby held her costume behind her back. Why were they staring like that?

“So…” she said, desperately wanting to tuck herself away in her cloak, “how do I look?”

Much to her relief, Blake returned to what she was doing. “You look great.”

“Considering there were no alterations made to it, I think it came out pretty well…” Weiss added. Ruby felt her face heat up a little. Did she really look that good?

Ruby quickly walked over to where her luggage laid beside her bed. It didn’t take her long to spot her costume’s case sitting beside it. She quickly stashed away the costume’s pieces before she ended up losing something. Mr. Aizawa would be pretty mad if she did.

Just as Ruby finished up, Yang finally emerged from the other bathroom. Her hair was still in the ponytail it was tied back in earlier. However, the fiery locks had now been twisted into gentle curls.

Yang stopped short upon spotting her sister. “Wow, Ruby.”

Ruby ran her hands over the fabric of her skirt, looking down at the carpet. “It’s just a dress…”

“Not just that,” said Weiss. As Yang went for her own formal wear, she began digging through her bag for something. Ruby raised a brow, trying to peer over Weiss’s shoulder. Just what was she…?

Weiss withdrew two things: a pair of white gloves for herself, and a pair of black heels for RUby. ...Heels. Black heeled shoes.

“Seriously, Weiss?!” Ruby groaned.

“Yes, seriously.” Ruby let out another loud groan. Of all things, why?!

“Ruby, if it helps, we’re all wearing them, too. Even Blake,” said Yang as she slipped into her dress… thing? Whatever Yang was wearing, it looked like someone took a romper and made it into a pale gold dress specifically for her. “Speaking of which, Blake? Zip me up?”

“Yeah…” Blake swiftly crossed the room to Yang’s side, brushing the blonde’s hair over her shoulder once she reached her, “and I’m wearing boots, not heels.”

“They have a heel.”

“Wedge.” Whatever the case was, the fact remained that Ruby’s shoes had a heel. She groaned at the lack of help she was getting. Weiss leaned over.

“Nearly everyone takes their heels off at some point during the night,” she whispered in Ruby’s ear. “You don’t have to wear them for very long. They’re mostly just to get there and to leave.” Ruby sighed. It wasn’t what she wanted, but a compromise instead. Just for appearances…?

“Thanks,” she said as she took the shoes from Weiss. At least she nailed Ruby’s style, especially down to the rose decal on the strap… With another sigh, the speedy girl slipped them on. 

Nearby, Yang had tied Blake’s long black hair back into a low tail with a purple ribbon that she had pulled from a small makeup bag in the corner near a vanity. As soon as Ruby had her shoes on her feet, Yang beckoned her over with a short whistle.

“Ruby,” she gestured to her younger sister, “come here.” Ruby raised a brow. Yang was smirking, which usually was never a good sign. But still, she carefully made her way over, wobbling all the while in these dang shoes. Relief only came when she swapped places with Blake at the vanity. Weiss ducked into the bathroom to take care of her own hair since Yang was keen on occupying the mirror in the room.

The tension in Ruby’s shoulders eased when Yang simply started running her fingers through her hair. She neated up the ends, fixing it from where it had been messed up and knotted throughout the course of the day.

It felt… kind of nice again. Ruby got lost in the feeling of Yang doing her hair, even letting her slide a simple, pale pink beaded bracelet around her wrist. Ruby raised a brow when her sister’s hands left her head, however. What was she…? 

Yang reached from the makeup bag on the table.

“Up bup bup!” Ruby was quick to grab her sister’s wrist. “I said that I would wear the dress and the shoes. Nothing more than that.”

“Alright, alright…” Yang chuckled, and backed away from the bag. “Just let me do this one thing.”

Ruby spun in her seat, watching intently as her sister darted over to the opposite side of the room. A bouquet of fake roses was displayed there. Yang plucked one of them. She returned, and Ruby stared at her sister wrapped the rose’s wire around a few spare hairpins the older girls had. Carefully, Yang pulled some of Ruby’s hair aside and used her makeshift pin to clip it back.

Yang spun Ruby back around. “What do you think?”

“Wow. I look…” Ruby gently smiled, “kind of cute.”

“You look great. Make all the boys turn their heads!” Yang giggled. Ruby only huffed and pushed her sister back again. She glanced at herself in the mirror. Well... She did look pretty cute. She felt cute, too. 

Weiss made her return from the bathroom, her hair looking softer and falling in waves, through still it’ usual side ponytail. In the mirror, Ruby caught sight of Weiss’s eyes narrowing. she huffed, walking over to wear the sisters wear and taking Yang by the wrist. She held it up to her eye level.

“Yang,” she said with all the sternness of Ms. Midnight when she was mad or disappointed with her students, “are you wearing your gauntlets?”

Wait, what? Ruby glanced over at the wrist Weiss was holding captive. Sure enough, the gauntlets that were a staple a part of Yang’s hero costume were still around her wrists. While normally they were extended to cover the back of her hands and forearms, the weapons could shift and collapse into what Yang liked to refer to as “disguise mode”. Like that, they could easily be mistaken for bracelets… kind of like how Ruby did just now.

“Yeah,” Yang tugged her wrist out of Weiss’s hold, “why?”

“You’re not going to need them,” Weiss told her. “It's just a reception.”

Yang let out a huff and put her hands on her hips. “Come on, Weiss. They match! Besides, if something happens, then I’ll be prepared.”

“Yang, we’re going to a  _ re-cept-ion _ . What’s the worst that could happen?” Ruby twisting her ankle in these shoes and falling directly face-first into someone important—

“Well, I can tell you that the best thing that can happen is that someone notices them… and maybe I let slip who the amazing genius who both came up with the idea and provided the initial designs are!” There was a beat. Ruby heard Blake snicker behind her as she pulled her suit jacket on. In the end, Weiss sighed.

“Okay, fine. Wear them.” Yang chuckled at her victory, leaving Weiss even more exasperated.

“C’mon,” Blake said, nudging Weiss gently as she passed. “Let’s get going. Otherwise, we’re going to be late.” Weiss simply sighed at that. She said no more on the matter, heading for the door.

“Alright,” Ruby said as she stood up. She wobbled in her heels, taking a second to regain her balance. Okay. The heels were thicker than Weiss’s and Yang’s, which was pretty good. Ruby could walk in these. She made it to the vanity without a problem, she could do this. Alright.. she got this.

Ruby took one step and tripped, saved from an embarrassing faceplant by Yang catching her at the last second. She groaned.

“Weiss!” Ruby drone out as Yang helped her to stand, keeping a hand firmly on her sister’s arm in case she took another tumble. “How do you manage to fight in these?!”

“Not those exactly, but…”Weiss only shrugged, “practice.”

“Whatever…” Ruby groaned again. As the girls exited their hotel room, Ruby made a mental note to take these shoes off the moment that they got to the reception hall.

* * *

The girls make their way over to the tower that both stood at the island’s center, and at the center of the expo’s grounds. If Ruby remembered right, It was the main hub where all the research on the island was done. It was impressive and huge… a metallic marvel of technology of all different kinds. And the perfect place, honestly to hold a reception like this.

...if only Ruby could admire it properly. The walk to the tower gave her a little practice with those dang shoes. She was sure that they weren’t ven shoes. They were lady stilts. Stupid lady stilts! Thinking about Weiss’s hero costume, Ruby had to question how the heck she fought in those boots, platforms and all.

The four girls were scanned by the tower’s security system when they arrived before being let in. Waiting in the entrance are Tenya Iida, Shouto Todoroki and Denki Kaminari, all in formal wear… except Kaminari. Ruby was pretty sure that he was just wearing the café’s uniform. The boys’ heads turned to the girls as they entered. Kaminari’s eyes widened a little and he grinned

“Best. Night. Ever!” he said happily. Ruby carefully made her way through the door. Okay… she could do this. She started to pick up her pace to a normal walking speed. She could do this with these!

“Hey, guys—!” Ruby's greeting was cut off with a yelp as she stumbled, tripping over her own two feet. She nearly fell flat on her face, and probably would have if one of her classmate’s hero instincts didn’t kick in. They caught Ruby before she could embarrass herself and hit the ground, the girl’s face colliding with their chest. Ruby looked up. “Uh—! Thanks, Kaminari.”

“No problem. Huh?” said Kaminari as Ruby straightened up, a faint blush on her face. That could’ve gone a lot better... “Whoa… Rose… You… look like a girl.” Ruby stared at him.

“But I always look like a girl—” She was a girl, how was this time different from any other time?

It was like what he said only registered with the electric boy now. “That's not what I—!”

“She does almost always wear skirts,” pointed out Todoroki as Kaminari’s face turned the same color as Ruby’s dress. “Even her hero costume has one.”

“That's not it!” Kaminari groaned, dragging his hands down his face to try and rub away at his embarrassment. As if satisfied with himself, Todoroki turned to Ruby.

“You look nice.”

Ruby sighed. “Thanks.”

Weiss looked over the boys and then glanced around the entryway. “Is it just the three of you?”

“Yeah,” said Todoroki with a nod. But the others promised to meet up here right about now.

“Give me a moment,” said Iida, as if picking up on Ruby’s train of thought somewhat. “I’ll check in with the others.” He stepped away, digging into his pocket for his phone in order to call the 1-A girls and the rest of the boys.

“I’m not surprised,” said Blake, shifting her weight onto one foot, “I thought we were going to be late solely because of how long it takes Yang to do her hair.”

Yang went red. “Hey!”

“She’s not really wrong…” Ruby commented without thinking much about it. Yang whipped around to her.

“Whose side are you on?!”

“I’m not on anyone’s side!” Why did there have to be sides?!

“Does it normally take girls long to do their hair…?” Todoroki mused, causing eyes to fall on him. “My sister doesn’t spend a lot of time in the bathroom each morning…”

“Hang on, you have a sister?” Kaminari asked, turning on his heel to face Todoroki. THe other boy nodded. “Why am I only finding out about this now?!”

“I didn’t think it was important to bring up. You didn't find out that Rose had a sister until today, didn't you?”

“Well…” Yang snickered and Kaminari sighed from defeat. The only thing that really saved Kaminari then was Iidas shout. From the sound of things, he was reprimanding Midoriya for not being here on time. Ruby laced her fingers behind her back.

“He’s really laying into Midoriya, isn’t he?” she mused aloud, glancing over at her class’s representative.

“We did agree on a certain time for a reason,” said Weiss, crossing her arms over her chest. Ruby didn't like the disappointment in her voice. She sighed. “We’re all going to be late at this rate…”

“Weiss, there will be plenty of time to talk to support designers,” said Blake reassuringly.

“I know, but still!”

“Support designers?” Todoroki repeated. The girls froze. Crap they forget all about them in the moment—!

Weiss went pale. “I—”

Yang slung her arm over Weiss’s shoulder successfully cutting her off. “Weiss is really into support gear and designs. She came up with most of the upgrades to our hero costumes.”

Kaminari blinked. “Really?”

“Well, yes,” said Weiss with a small sigh of relief that her secret was still safe. “I came up with the concepts, at least. Building support gear is still something that I struggle with, unfortunately.”

“Still pretty, cool, senpai.” Okay, it looked like Kaminari had calmed down. He wasn’t red anymore.

Iida had finally hung up his call after ragging on Midoriya for his tardiness. He sighed as he made his way back to the rest of the group.

“Everything okay?” Ruby asked, hoping that it was.

“The girls simply lost track of time, and Midoriya…” Iida explained, drawing in a sharp breath through his nose, “was sidetracked for what I understand. He was rambling, so it was hard to make out. They’ll be here soon enough. I’m not sure about Bakugo and Kirishima. They weren’t answering.”

“Maybe they’re not coming? Bakugo isn’t exactly a people person.” Iida simply hummed in reply to that.

With the others running late, the group was left to chat for a while. Small stories were swapped, tales from school and interactions with Pro Heroes during internships (though, Todoroki, Iida and Ruby danced around saying anything expecilt about their internships). And after a while, the group became more at peace with each other. Or at least Kaminari was comfortable around this upperclassmen, since this was his first long-term interaction with them.

Fifteen minutes had to have at least past when the door to the entrance opened. Izuku Midoriya rushed into the waiting area, dressed in suit and sweat pricing his brow. He was out of breath.

“Sorry about… that you… guys,” he said quickly, drawing in as much air as he could. Did he run all the way here? He stared at the group before him. “Uh. Where is everybody?”

“They’re not here yet,” Weiss explained. “We set up a meeting time so we could all head in together on time. Did that mean nothing to you?” Midoriya turned a bit red. Weiss sighed.

“Sorry, Senpai—!” Midoriya’s apology was cut off as the security system’s sensors activated. As if on cue, Ochako, Yaoyorozu and Jirou arrived at the tower as well, Ochako well ahead of the other two girls. Much like her friends, she was wearing a pink formal dress and had her hair pinne out of her face. It had a flower pin.

“Sorry I’m late!” said Ochako quickly. “It took me a while to get ready.” From behind her entered Yaoyorozu and Jirou, each stylishly dressed in formal wear to suit their elegant and punk tastes respectively. Ruby had to peer around Yaoyorozu to get a better look at Jirou, though. Was… Was she hiding? 

“Apologies for the tardiness,” said Yaoyorozu, with Jirou ust about stuck to her arm. “Jirou’s feeling shy.”

“If it makes you feel better, so is Blake,” said Yang, gesturing to the cat-eared girl next to her. irou peered around from Yaoyorozu.Upon spotting Blake, she blushed a little before finally emerging from behind her friend. Jirou tugged on the cropped leather jacket she was wearing.

“This is fancier than anything I’ve ever worn…” she said. “It feels like a costume.”

“I’m just glad you’re not in a t-shirt,” said Kaminari. Ruby winced as Jirou jammed one of her ear jacks into his ear, making him screech in pain. 

“Shut up.”

“Why would you do that?!” Kaminari rubbed at his ear the moment Jirou withdrew her jack. “It was a compliment…”

“No it wasn’t.” The blush on Jirou’s face had only grown deeper. As if sensing the younger’s discomfort, Blake put a hand on her shoulder, causing Jirou to sigh. Ruby, meanwhile, turned to Midoriya and Ochako.

“Lookin’ cute, Ochako!” she told the zero gravity girl. It was true. The dress Ochako was wearing really suited her. She looked positively adorable.

“Thanks,” said Ochako, a bit of pink dusting her cheeks. “This is my first time in formal wear… I had to borrow something from Yaoyorozu…” Even so.

“It…” Midoriya cleared his throat, his face flushed red, “looks really good. Like. Perfect.”

Ochako only grew more flustered at that compliment. “Oh, Deku, stop! You don’t have to flatter me so much!”

The door then opened again, and Ruby felt her heart jump into her throat. In ran Melissa, who let out a sigh upon spotting the hero course students waiting for her. She looked so… so  _ different _ than before. Her long hair had been swept up in a high ponytail, and her bangs held back with a red headband. Her dress was strapless, with the upper half a dark blue and the knee-length skirt a pale shade of the same color. Her shoes were heels, like the rest of the girls’ seemed to be, but they were white and strapless — a lot like Weiss’s.

She was just... 

“Oh good!” Melissa said as she entered the room. Was it always this hard to look her in the eye? Ruby didn’t have trouble with this before! “I thought I was going to miss you guys!”

“Uh,” Ruby tried to fight back a bit of pink that decided to appear on her face, “M-Melissa!”

The smile Melissa gave her did not make things any better. “Hey. Sorry if I kept you guys waiting.”

“Not at all,” said Weiss with a sigh, most likely relieved.

“Let’s get downstairs to the party.”

“Yeah! Let’s good!” Ruby said with a nod. There was a beat. “I mean good!” She groaned. “Go! Let. Us. Go!” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips. Yang leaned forward on her sister’s shoulder as Ruby’s face went flush with embarrassment.

“Aw, does Ruby have a little crush?” she said, pinching her sister’s cheek.

“Shut up… She’s just cute.” Yang only giggled. Didn’t matter. They were all here and now they could—! Ruby looked around. Wait a sec— “Huh? Um… hey, where are Kirishima and Bakugo?”

“Are they not here yet?” Midoriya asked. Ruby nodded, pushing Yang away.

“I tried to get in contact with them earlier, but they wouldn’t pick up,” Iida explained. “I can try again, but I don’t have Bakugo’s own contact information. Only way I can get in touch with him is through the class’s group chat.”

Right… and it didn’t seem fair to contact him through that. Iida only used it for classroom announcements anyway. That’s why he made it.

“I can handle Kacchan…” Midoriya pulled out his phone, quickly dialling Bakugo’s number. Iida did the same, but for Kirishima. “Though I doubt he’ll pick up.” There were several beats, the entire group silent as their phones played only dial tone for what felt like a straight minute. In the end, Midoriya let out a sigh and hung up. “That’s what I thought.”

“What about Kirishima?” Ruby asked. If Bakugo Isn't picking up, then surely Kirishima would—

“He’s still not answering,” Iida sighed. Okay, nevermind. “You might be right with your earlier thoughts. They're just blowing off the party.”

“It doesn't matter,” said Melissa. “I’m sure they’re just having a bit of fun in their own way.” Yang snickered upon hearing that. Blake sharply elbowed her, giving her a look. Ruby blinked. Wait, what was Yang laughing about?

“Kacchan Isn't the biggest on parties…” mused Midoriya aloud.

“That’s what I said!” Ruby told him. She was getting pretty good at understanding Bakugo lately. Midoriya chuckled at his friend’s little excitement over that.

“Let’s get going!” said Ochako, bouncing on her heels as she turned towards the elevator. “Fancy tuna, here I come!” The group began to make their way towards the elevator, with the older girls chuckling at Ochako’s enthusiasm. Kaminari leaned over to Todoroki.

“Do you really think there will be fancy tuna there?” he asked. Todoroki only shrugged.

“Most likely,” he replied. However, before the kids could even press the elevator’s button, the tower’s PA system crackled to life.

“This is an announcement from the I-Island Security System,” said a robotic, feminine-sounding voice over the speaker. The kids all stopped. The security system? “We have received a report that an explosive device was discovered somewhere on the I-Expo grounds. I-Island will now be in high alert mode. Your safety is our top priority. Residents and tourists should return to their lodgings at this time. If you cannot, please find the nearest building. Anyone remaining on the street after ten minutes will be in violation of the law. Please clear out public areas. As a precautionary measure…” Everyone jumped as shutters came down over the moors and the windows, sealing them inside the tower. “...most of the main island buildings will now be sealed off. I repeat. We have received a report…”

Everyone was quiet as the message repeated. What was…?! This couldn’t be happening…!

“That ain’t good,” commented Yang, breaking the silence. Todoroki dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. 

“I’m not getting any signal,” he said. “It looks like my service is completely blocked.” Jirou, the one closest to the elevator, hit the button for it. There was a beat. The button didn’t light up, the elevator showed no signs of moving and the doors didn’t open.

“The elevator’s not working either,” she said. Oh, that wasn’t good.

“It’s strange that the system would go on high alert,” Melissa mused aloud. “That’s not the protocol whenever explosives are discovered.”

There was a beat. If that was the case, then just what… What was going on?

“Guys?” Midoriya walked over to Ruby and Iida. “Let’s go to that party.”

“For what reason?” asked Iida after exchanging a look with the speedy girl beside him.

“Because that’s the place we can find All Might right now.” Ruby nodded. … Wait. Hold on—!

“Wait, All Might’s in there?” asked Ochako. Midoriya nodded. Thinking back on it, that might’ve been the cause of the commotion Ruby saw when they arrived. Only that big of a crowd would’ve fired for a popular hero… and All Might was one of the most popular she could think of.

She let her curiosity get the better of her. “Does he have anything to do with why you’re here?”

“Uh! W-We can talk about that later…” That stammering indicated that the answer was probably ‘yes’. Midoriya cleared his throat before continuing. “So Melissa, do you know if we can get down there without the elevator?”

“Yeah, sure,” said Melissa. “We can use the emergency stairs. That will at least get us close.”

“We’ll follow your lead then.” Midoriya turned to his classmates. “Rose, Iida, Jirou. Come on. I have an idea.”

Midoriya’s idea was simple. Utilizing the speed of the other two, Midoriya and Jirou quickly made it to the third floor, using a balcony that opened up to the second as their perch. They and Ruby peered down at the party going on below while Iida stood watch. The Pro Heroes are bound by hard light ropes, and men with guns are hanging around, keeping the partygoers in line. Ruby put her hand over her mouth to keep her gasp quiet when she spotted who was tied up on the stage.

_ All Might…! _

Midoriya used his phone to catch the light, flashing a signal from above to catch All Might’s attention. Ruby could see her teacher’s eye widen upon spotting his students.

Midoriya pocketed his phone. “Okay, he knows that we’re here. Jirou, is your jack in place?”

“Yeah,” Jirou said with a nod. “Ready.” Midoriya’s hands moved, signing out what he was saying without really using any sort of hand signals that Ruby was familiar with. ...wait. Was he…?

“You can talk to us,” he said as he did so, “We’re listening.” Using Jirou’s earphone jack, the plan was to get what information they could on the situation room All Might directly. Hopefully they didn’t get caught doing so. But...

“I didn't know you knew sign language,” said Ruby, keeping her voice low enough that she hopes only Midoriya could hear her.

“He won’t admit it, but Kacchan’s hard of hearing because of the noise his explosions make when he sets them off. I learned it because of that.” There was a beat. “...don’t tell him that I told you that, he’d probably blow me up.”

“My lips are sealed.” Part of her wondered why Bakugo would hide it though. Maybe he just didn’t feel the need to talk about it? Kind of like her with her—! Ruby’s train of thought was cut off when Jirou grabbed her wrist, retracting her earphone jack. She looked like the world had just ended.

“This is bad, guys,” she said, only confirming Ruby’s initial feeling.

“What is it?” Midoriya asked.

“Villains have taken the tower. They’re controlling the security system and holding everyone on the island hostage. The heroes included.”

Ruby and Midoriya’s eyes went wide. Oh no… that was bad.

* * *

Everyone — with most of the younger kids sitting on the floor — all seemed to silently agree with Ruby’s initial notion of the situation. They said nothing as the information sunk in. Things were bad, just as she thought.

And now all that was left to do was to figure out what their next course of action would be. ...whatever that was.

“We’ve received All Might’s orders loud and clear,” said Iida. “He’s our teacher. I suggest we follow his instructions and escape this place. Otherwise we’d be going against his will.”

“I’m afraid that I have to agree with what Iida is saying,” said Yaoyorozu. “We’re still only students. We can’t fight these villains if we don’t have our hero licenses.” Ruby leaned back against the wall and stared at the ground. There were just students. And as she had been reminded before, it was illegal for them to do anything. They at least needed their provisional licenses—

Wait.

Ruby turned to the upperclassmen of the bunch. “What about you guys? You guys have licenses!”

“ _ Provisional _ licenses,” Blake reminded her. “They’re only good for emergencies, remember? I’m not even sure if they’re any good outside of Japan…” Did that matter?! 

“This  _ is _ an emergency!” The Pros were captured, the villains were in control of the security system… the whole island was at risk! The older students exchanged looks with each other, as if unsure about what to do.

“I don’t think they'll take where we’re licensed into account here…” Weiss said, glancing over at her fellow 3-A students, “and this  _ is _ an emergency.” Blake bit down on her lip and her cat ears flattened against her head, still unsure. Yang reached over, taking Blake’s hand and givin it a reassuring squeeze while nodding. Blake returned it.

“Okay,” shesaid. And that was it.

“Alright, then it’s settled. Blake, Yang and I will take care of these villains and free the Pros in the process. We might have to figure it out as we go along, but it’s better than doing nothing right now.” Ruby let out a short sigh. There it was. They could do something. ...but...

“What do we do about the kids?” There was quiet. Now that was a question for the hours, wasn’t it? The students of 1-A weren’t allowed to fight due to their lack of license. It was considered illegal for them to engage with the villains at all. Over the course of their internships, Iida, Ruby, Midoriya and Todoroki had earned that the hard way.

“I have an idea,” said Kaminari, breaking the silence. “Why don’t we get out of here and tell the heroes outside? They can help you guys out.”

“It’s not going to be very easy to escape,” said Melissa with a grim look that Ruby could unfortunately make out in the dim lighting of the hall they were crammed into. “The security system here is on the same level as that of the Tartarus prison, which is where they keep the most dangerous criminals in the world.”

“Then all we can do is sit and wait until everything is over, I guess.” Jirou stood up from her place crouched next to Kaminari.

“Are you really okay with that, Kaminari?” she asked. Kaminari looked up at her.

“What choice do we have?”

“Don’t you think that we should at least help try and stop them?” Ruby bit her lip. Well, yeah. But-

“The villains even have All Might trapped,” said Yang, crossing her arms over her chest. “There’s not much you kids can do when the fully licensed Pros are stuck. Your friend’s right. You guys should stay here until things blow over. It’s safer.” Quiet fell heavily upon the students of 1-A. Yang had a point, but… Ruby bit down on her lip a little harder.

Todoroki looked down at his hand. “But aren’t we trying to be Pros ourselves?”

“Well, yes, but we’re not allowed to work as heroes yet,” said Yaoyorozu. “You know that.”

“Does that mean…” Todoroki slowly closed his fist, “it’s right for us to do nothing at all?”

“Well, it’s complicated…” There was silence. Ruby knew that Todoroki had a point. While Yang, Weiss and Blake were allowed to do something about it, Ruby felt like sitting here and doing nothing… something about it made her stomach twist. She didn’t like it. She wanted to—

“...I wanna help.” Yeah, that was—! Ruby blinked. Wait.

“Midoriya?” she said, looking over at her friend.

Midoriya looked up to his upperclassmen. “I want to save them.”

“You want to go fight those villains?” asked Weiss. The green-haired boy nodded. “Do you know how dangerous that—”

“We don’t have to fight them. We just need to think of a way to rescue All Might and everyone else at the party without facing the bad guys.” That—!

“That’s easy to say,” huffed Kaminari, “but you know it won’t be that simple.”

“I know, but I still want to try! We can figure out what the bad guys’ plan of action is and keep these criminals from winning! We can save everyone.”

“That might just work,” said Ruby with a soft smile. Yeah, that was it! They could help the older girls after all.

“Are you sure?” asked Ochako. Midoriya nodded. It was a good plan, and it kept the kids out of danger.

“I know where the security system is,” Melissa replied, gesturing upwards. “It’s on the top floor of this tower. If these criminals manage to take control of it, then the authentication locks and password have probably been disabled. We should be able to restart the system ourselves. We just have to stay off the villain’s radar until we can get to the top floor. That’s all. If we do that, the whole Island will be safe again.”

“Then we have a chance,” said Blake. Melissa nodded. Okay… It sounded like a good plan. Maybe they could do something after all.

“Sure, but how do we keep on the low for that long?” asked Jirou.

“The security system hasn’t discovered us yet,” said Melissa. “That means the villains probably don't know how it works very well.”

“So we avoid fighting anyone and try to get the place back to normal,” concluded Todoroki. “It could work.”

“Not bad,” said Kaminari with a hum. He glanced up at the older girls. “Whaddya think, senpai?”

THe girls exchanged looks with each other, and Yang sighed, wringing her hand on the back of her neck. “It’s a good idea, but—”

“Then let’s do it,” Jirou said with a nod cutting Yang off. Yang opened her mouth to say something else, but the cut off streak only seemed to continue.

“But many of our enemies are likely gathered there on the top floor,” Yaoyorozu pointed out.

“We won’t have to fight them if we’re fast enough,” Ruby brought up, gesturing to herself, Iida and Midoriya. “And you have three of the fastest members of 1-A right here!”

Midoriya nodded in agreement. “And when the security system goes back to normal, All Might and the others will be released. They’ll immediately jump into action and stop the villains, I know it!”

Ochako stood up. “Let’s do this, guys!”

“Uraraka—”

“I don’t want to sit around here being helpless. Not if there’s something we can actually try! What’s important is that we’re helping people, even if we’re not real heroes.” At his friend’s encouragement, Midoriya stood up as well.

“That’s exactly the way I feel about things!” he said. “We’ll follow our hearts and save the island!”

“Yeah!”

“Midoriya,” Midoriya turned to Todoroki when he spoke up. “I’ll go with you, too.”

Jirou nodded. “I’m in.”

That was almost all of the 1-A kids now. With this small army of first years… What were the third years going to do?

“Senpai?” Midoriya turned towards the older girls with a glint of hope in his eye. “What do you say? Will you let us help?” The older girls were silent. They simply exchanged looks with each other, no words needing to be said for them to understand each other’s answer.

Weiss tore her gaze away from Yang before sighing. “The moment that we think you guys are in danger and can’t handle what we’re up against, then we’re done. You’ll hide somewhere safe until the situation has been handled. Alright?”

“Got it,” said Jirou as the rest of the kids nodded. Awesome! They could—

“If that’s the case, then I’d like to join you all as well,” said Iida. Yaoyorozu stepped up, too.

“I’ll go, too,” she said.

Kaminari stood. “Obviously, I’m in!”

Ruby grinned as she looked to Iida, Midoriya and Todoroki. “Friends don’t let friends do things alone. Don’t worry, guys. I got your backs!”

“Thanks, Rose!” said Midoriya, a bit grateful. Ruby was going to come any way. She had made a promise with her friends a few months back. She would always be there to help them through any dangerous schee they threw themselves into. Yang stood up a bit straighter, her tone becoming more serious now that her sister was getting involved with this.

“You guys better be careful,” she said, her tone firmer than what Ruby was used to. “It’s like Weiss said. The second things have gone too far, then it’s over and you’ll leave the rest to us three. Got it?” There was a chorus of agreement from the 1-A kids. With that settled...

“Melissa,” Blake said, turning to the girl in question, “you can wait down here for us.”

“No,” said Melissa much to hte older girls’ surprise. “I’m going, too.”

Midoriya’s brow furrowed. “But, you’ll be in danger without a Quirk.”

Ruby blinked, staring at Melissa. She… She was Quirkless?

“I don’t suppose any of you know how to change the settings on the island’s security system?” Melisa asked. The group exchanged looks with each other. They said nothing. “I’m a student at the academy. I’ll be useful to you.”

“Hold on—” Weiss started.

“I know I might just get in your way, at least until we get up to the top floor, but I want to help! People are in danger! Please!” The three semi-licensed girls exchanged looks with each other. The communication between them was silent. In the end, though, Weiss nodded. Yang crossed her arms and sirked. Blake gave a simple hum. Their decision was unanimous.

“Alright,” said Blake. Everyone was going. And everyone could do this. Ruby was buzzing. It wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing, but this was the best idea. The more of them that there were, the more likely they were to save everyone.

“Come on, kids,” Yang mimicked Kirishima’s signature pose, pounding her fists together with a forcefully confident grin. “Let’s see what you can do.”

And with that, their plan was set. The group flooded out into the hall that led to the emergency staircase. Midoriya, with Iida by his side, raced back towards the balcony to relay his message to All Might. All that was left was to wait patiently and then they were set to go.

Yang strode over to Weis with a devious smirk, throwing her arm around the heiress’s shoulders and making her jump with surprise.

“And you said that I wasn’t going to need my gauntlets,” she said, nuding her friend’s shoulder with her fist. “Well guess what, Weiss?”

Weiss huffed, ducking away from Yang’s teasing hold. “Why did I have a feeling you were going to rub it in my face like this?”

“Probably because we actually did need them after all,” brought up Blake, fidgeting with the buttons on her suit’s jacket. Weiss glared at her. “It’s just how Yang is, you know that.”

“Wait, hold on,” the older girls turned to a confused Jirou. “You guys are wearing your support gear?”

“Eh, not all of it,” Yang said with a shrug. “A good hero can make any practical gear a fashion statement.” With a flick of her wrists, Yang’s bracelets shifted into their true gauntlet form, taking up a good majority of her forearms. Blake shed her jacket and rolled up her dress shirt sleeve. Underneath her shirt was a long, black ribbon that was wrapped around her right forearm and secured in place with thick magnetic clips on its ends.

“Do you carry that thing with you everywhere?” Ruby asked. Now that she thought about it, Blake never went anywhere without the ribbon wrapped around her arm. It was even a staple part of her hero costume.

Blake only shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“No offense, but what can a ribbon even do?” asked Kaminari.

“It’s not a ribbon. I based it off of your teacher’s capture weapon. The fundamentals are the same, even if a little different in design.”

“So cool…!” said Ochako under her breath. Footsteps rushing down the hall put them on edge.Relief washed over them when they saw that it was only Midoriya making his return from the reception hall, having read their message to All Might.

“What did he say?” Ruby asked once he finally reached them.

“I think he understands,” Midoriya replied. He sighed, looking a bit nervous. “Hopefully he can just hold out a little longer.”

“Then we should get moving,” said Yang, hand on her hip and looking determined. “1-A Brigade… and Melissa. Move out!”

“Right!” everyone chimed back.

And then the race to the top was on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blake does always carry her ribbon with her. (I mean... technically, it's a capture weapon, but only Blake refers to it as such.) It has partially to do with the reason she's wearing a suit rather than a dress and that's comfort. (The other reason is I just wanted one of the girls in a suit, and I thought that Blake would be more likely to wear one.)
> 
> Anyway, it only makes sense to me for WBY -- who are able to act as heroes during times of emergency -- to actually do something here because they can, unlike 1-A since this is before the training camp and they don't have their licenses yet. WBY is going to be very careful when it comes to the kids, I promise, so they'll be pulling though for the good senpai tag.
> 
> Next time!
> 
> Act 3: The Tower
> 
> “How far up are we?”  
> “Level thirty.”  
> “Melissa, how high does it go?”  
> “Two-hundredth floor…”  
> “The what?!”  
> “That’s way too many stairs for these…”
> 
> “I’m fine, go!”  
> “Todoroki!”  
> “I’ll be right behind you after I clean up this mess!”  
> “Right!”  
> “Oh no, you don’t! Weiss, Blake, keep an eye on these guys!”
> 
> “You kids know how to fight, don’t you?”  
> “Where’d you come from?”  
> “Right. Like we’d tell a couple a’ weakass villains.”  
> “I can give you my name.”  
> “Senpai—”  
> “Back home… I’m the future Burning Hero. My name is Firecracker… but you can call me sir!”
> 
> “I’m not going to let you fall."


	4. The Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The combined forces of the U.A. students and Melissa Shield start their trek up the tower. Soon, things are proven to be more difficult than they originally thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, we're at the midway point for this fic! I did say it was going to be short, so that's kinda expected. Anyway, we're finally done with set up and now we can get onto that good content that the tags and I have promised.
> 
> This chapter contains teenagers fighting villains and wall running. Simple as that. Oh! Also a badass Yang.
> 
> That's about it. Enjoy the chapter!

The group — the members of U.A. Class 1-A, the three semi-pros and Melissa Shield — began the long race up the tower. This plan was going to work. Ruby had faith that it would. They had done the impossible before, and they would do it again.

Floor after floor after floor after floor… ten, twenty, thirty flights of stairs… But after that many flights, Ruby was starting to lose her grip on the ground. She was getting better with these darn shoes, but she still could run as fast in them as she wanted. And that was without her Quirk.

“Stupid lady stilts!” Ruby said through her teeth before groaning. She looked up at the others ahead of her. “How far up are we?”

Iida glanced over at the number painted on the wall. “Level thirty.”

“Melissa,” Midoriya turned to the girl just a few feet behind him, “how high does it go?”

Melissa herself was panting, sweat beading on her forehead. “Two-hundredth floor…”

“The what?!” exclaimed Kaminari. Ruby let out a groan, glancing down at her shoes.

“That’s way too many stairs for these…” she griped, thinking about the blisters that she would have later.

“It’s still better than running into the villains,” Yaoyorozu brought up as the rest of the group continued their climb.

“Yeah…” Ruby still huffed a groan. She didn’t want to wear things…

But still, the group continued up the staircase. The fortieth floor… the fiftieth floor… when they reached that point, Ruby and Ochako both noticed that Melissa was starting to lag behind. She didn't have the training that the others did. Her stamina and endurance wasn’t as high as theirs. Could she keep climbing at their pace?

“Hey, Melissa?” Ochako asked as she and Ruby came to a stop. “Do you want me to use my Quirk on you?”

“I’ll be fine… but thanks anyway…!” Melissa told her, having her hand off. She stopped, however, and took her shoes off. She simply discarded them on the ground. Ruby watched as they tumbled down the stairs a bit. ...They could do that?! “Save your power for when we need it, I’m right behind you!”

“You know, Melissa, I honestly think you have the right idea…” sighed Ruby. Melissa stared at the young girl for a moment as Ruby crouched down. She quickly undid the straps of her shoes. The second she stood up again, Ruby kicked them off and let out another sigh. “Much better…!”

Melissa smiled, amused with Ruby’s antics. “Come on, let’s go!”

The climb continued, with Ruby grateful that she finally found stable footing on the ground without those lady stilts holding her back. The sixtieth floor… the seventieth loor… the eightieth floor.

It was there that they ran into a problem — literally ran into it, actually, as Iida’s forehead smacked into it. The rest of the stairs were blocked back by a metal gate.

“The route’s blocked,” Iida said after failing to push the barricade away.

“What should we do?” asked Todoroki, turning towards his senpai. “Break through it?” Yang raised a braced fist, but was held back from any sort of destruction when Melissa put her hand on her shoulder.

“If we did that…” Melissa sighed as she thought about the situation. “I’m sure the security system would alert the villains that somebody's in here.” Ruby leaned up against the wall. She looked around. Well… there was always on way out. She pushed herself up and walked over to the door that opened up to the eightieth floor.

“We could always go through this door instead,” said Ruby, reaching for its handle. “It’s not locked, is it?”

“No, wait! Don’t!” Ruby jumped back, holding her hands up as if she was surrendering. What? What did she do?! “That will alert the villains.” ...Oh.

Ruby lowered her arms. “So then what do we do?”

“Melissa,” Weiss turned to her, “is there another staircase we can take?” Melissa humed, thinking about this.

“There’s another set of emergency stairs on the other side of the building,” she said. Okay, so all they had to do was reach the other side of the building and—! Oh, right. They were stuck here. The only way to get to the other staircase as...

“We only have one option then…” Todoroki sighed. The entire group stared at the door. They would have to go through there, but it was like Melissa said. If they did… Jirou stepped forward first, jamming her earphone jack into the wall. There was a moment of silence.

“I can’t hear anything on the other side…” Jirou relayed to them after a while. “I guess most of the villains are on the second floor.”

“Not for long,” said Yaoyorozu. She glanced over at the door, brows knitting with concern. “The second we open that door…” The second they opened that door, the villains would be gunning for the kids.

“Are there any traps?” Weiss asked. Jirou only shrugged in response.

“I don't know,” she said. “It was mostly silence.” Weiss, Blake and Yang looked at each other.

Yang crossed her arms over her chest. “I don't want to risk it.”

“But it’s the only way we have,” Ruby pointed out. It was either they went through the door, or busted down their current barricade blocking the rest of the staircase. Either way, none of them would fit around the villains’ senses.

Midoriya turned to the girls of 3-A. “What are your Quirks? Maybe they could help us here.”

“Mine definitely wouldn't,” said Yang with a small sigh. “If anything, it would still alert the villains.” ...yeah, that was a fair assumption.

“I can create shadow clones of myself,” Blake explained, “and Weiss has her glyphs.” Right, Weiss’s glyphs! They could do a lot of things. Midoriya opened his mouth, only to be abruptly cut off when Weiss raised her hand.

“Before you ask, no,” she said quickly. “None of them can unlock a door.” Midoriya promptly shut his mouth. The group stared at the door. Great… now what?

Melissa swallowed something down. “Looks like we’re going through then…”

“I’ll go through first,” said Blake, putting a hand on Melissa’s shoulder. “If there’s anything waiting on the other side… a trap or something, then it’ll hit a Shadow rather than any one of us.” Melissa nodded, though she still seemed unsure as Blake approached the door. She glanced back at the others. “Back up.”

The kids did without question.

“Alright, stay together!” Yang ordered, her voice hardened from her hero persona. The kids all agreed in their own ways. Ruby had no idea Yang could be so commanding when it came to hero work. Yang and Weiss stood at the ready behind their cat-eared friend. Blake swallowed something down as she grabbed a hold of the door handle. She then flung it open without another thought.

A second went by, and nothing happened.

“Alright,” Blake backed off, “go!” The kids rushed into the hall, with Weiss, Blake and Yang following right after. They ran through the halls, moving as fast as they could go while still sticking together. All they had to do was find some other way to get to the top of the tower, right?

“You said that there was another way to get up?” Todoroki asked.

“Yeah!” replied Melissa. “The other emergency staircase is down at the other end of the hallway!”

“Then let’s hurry!” said Weiss. The kids picked up the pace. They had to beat the villains' sensors and control the security system.

Unfortunately, that proved to only be a pipe dream when the doors around them started to shut one by one. Similar barricades like the one that blocked them on the staircase started falling.

“The gates!” Midoriya exclaimed.

“The one’s behind us, too!” cried out Yaoyorozu. The kids of 1-A moved before the older girls could.

“Todoroki!” Iida called out to his classmate.

“I’m on it!” Todoroki acted quickly. From his right side, he created a burst of ice that jammed a gate open. Iida leapt over the gates. Ruby heard him shout, and the telltale sounds of his engines revving up. He rushed towards the closest door, burning away the lower half of his pants and bashing the door down all in one go. Todoroki quickly ushered everyone through the gates’ gap. 

“Everyone, quick!” Iida called back to the rest of the group, gesturing to the door he had just knocked down. “We can crawl through here!” Everyone rushed into the room, relieved to be out of the hallway.

“Nice hussle, Tenya,” Yang told him as she passed him by, patting him on the shoulder as she did. She then pushed him into the room.

The kids finally stopped their sprinting, taking a moment to breathe and just walk through the… well, Ruby wasn't sure what this place was. It looked like a botanical garden. Different plants were surrounding the space, and a bit of humidity hung in the air. Tropical trees and bushes… The only sign of what it truly was was the elevator at the end of the room and the walkway about midway to the ceiling. It seriously was an indoor garden.

“Whoa,” said Midoriya, almost awestruck, “what is this place?”

“It’s a plant factory…” Melissa explained as the group began to cautiously walk through, “they research the effects that Quirks have on fauna here.” Fauna? Oh, like U.A.’s princi—

“Hold on!” The group came to an abrupt stop at Jirou’s call. “Look. The elevator’s coming up!”

Ruby felt tension in her shoulders when she spotted the number on the top of the elevator start to change. “They found us already?”

“Come on, everyone hide!” Yang ordered. There was no argument. Everyone quickly ducked into the bushes nearby. They sat still, most of them holding their breath. They waited.

“I wonder if we can use that elevator to get to the top floor once they’re gone…” Kaminari mused. That… wasn’t a bad idea, actually. They would be able to reach the top easily and could avoid the villains’ ticks and traps, too—

“No,” said Melissa, much to Ruby’s disappointment. “Only authorized people can use the controls, unfortunately. And it’s built like a bomb shelter, so we can’t even break in and try.”

The elevator dinged. There was a sharp hitch in Ruby’s breath. It seemed like everyone was holding their own in an effort to keep themselves silent and undetectable. Two villains — one short and stout, the other thin and tall — entered the greenhouse.

“Look at their clothes,” said Midoriya, his voice a whisper. “They're definitely the villains from the party.” Yeah… there was no denying that much… What kind of people wore what looked like military gear to a party?

“You said the kids came in here?” said the shorter of the two villains to his companion.

“They just had to pick a place with so many hiding spots…” the taller villain nodded. The kids were still as the villains walked into the plant factory, eyes searching for any sign that something wasn’t right or for a sign of someone there.

Ochako had her hands plastered over her mouth to try and keep herself quiet. “They’re after us…!”

“Stay quiet!” Iida reminded her, doing his best to keep his voice low as well. Ruby felt her heart pound hard enough that she swore she could hear it. She jumped when something dropped onto her shoulder. Ruby relaxed immediately upon realizing that it was just Yang’s hand. Yang gave her sister a reassuring squeeze, firm enough to help ground her somewhat. Like she was telling her that everything would be alright, no matter what.

“Hey!” shouted the taller villain making Ruby jump. “We see you, stupid kids!”Tension returned in double. No, they were caught! What now? Were they going to have to fight? Ruby didn’t doubt that her sister and her friends couldn’t take them down, but…

Then someone spoke. Well not really spoken, more so...

“Whatcha say, you bastard?” that someone growled. Ruby’s eyes went wide, and Midoriya went pale. Oh no… The pair peeked out from the bushes and confirmed their worst fear.

Bakugo and Kirishima were on the eightieth floor, dressed like they had been planning to go to the party after all. And they had been the ones spotted by the villains.

“What are you two doin’ here?” spat the short villain. Bakugo’s overconfidence took over for him.

“Heh. That’s what I want to know, too,” he said as he tried to walk up to them. Luckily, Kirishima stopped him before he could get close, pressing a hand to his chest. 

“Hey, man, just leave this to me, okay?” he said, trying to calm his companion down. The redhead turned towards the villains, calmly walking up to them while rubbing the back of his head. “Um, we kinda got lost lookin’ for the party! Can you maybe point us in the right direction?”

Ruby raised a brow. Lost? How did someone get lost on the eightieth floor while looking for a party on the second…?

“Don’t lie to me—” the taller villain’s glove tore apart as his hand grew in size, a ball of wind forming in his palm. “Or you’ll regret it!” He then attacked, sending a great wave rushing towards Kirishima. No—!

“Hey, watch out!” Bakugo shouted.

“Kirishima!” cried out Ruby and Midoriya, not caring about whether or not they were caught anymore. In a flash, a large wall of ice shot out from the group’s hiding place, blocking the villains and freezing them solid. It knocked Kirishima flat on his back, but still protected him either way. Bakugo rushed up to Kirishima, quickly pulling him up.

“This looks like…” Bakugo’s eyes trailed over to where the ice came from.

“Todoroki?!” Kirishima exclaimed. Well… at least Ruby and Midoriya weren’t the only ones who blew their cover. The ice Todoroki created started to rumble and shatter. Todoroki acted quickly, hitting his right palm on the ground.

“The three of us can keep them busy down here!” he shouted as ice spread out across the ground from his palm, rushing towards the rest of the group. “Look for a way to get to the top!”

“What are you doing—!?” Midoriya exclaimed, cut off when the group yelped. The ice started to rise, with Todoroki creating a mountain of it to raise them higher and higher off of the ground, and safely away from the villains.

“I’m fine, go!” No, he wasn’t! The villains—!

“Todoroki!” Yaoyorozu shouted, worried for her friend.

“I’ll be right behind you after I clean up this mess!” Yaoyorozu bit down on her lip.

“Right!” While she was fine with it, not everyone in the group was.

“Oh no, you don’t!” said Yang with a growl. She stood up. “Weiss, Blake, keep an eye on these guys!”

“Right!” Weiss replied, and Ruby felt her hand wrap around Ruby’s wrist when she went to stand. Blake simply nodded. Was she trying to keep her here?

“Ruby,” Yang looked back at her sister, who gently patted her head once. “Stay safe.”

“You too!” Ruby said. Her sister had trained much more than she had. She trusted Yang. She let her come this far.

“I promise I will.” Ruby swallowed something down and nodded. Yang always kept her promises. She always did. Yang said nothing more as she jumped from the top of the ice, sliding down the side and towards the fight. 

* * *

Yang slid down the slide of the icy mound, gritting her teeth and doing her best not to fall over. In hindsight, sliding down the ice in heels was a bad idea, but she really didn’t care. There was no way that she was going to let these kids fight these villains by themselves. Sure, they had faced villains before — and won, as Ruby had once told her after being slammed into the ground during their Sports Festival training. But it didn’t mean that they should be fighting villains.

They were just first years.

She reached the bottom, skidding to a halt at the transition from ice to concrete. It took Yang a second to find her footing again and when she did, she went rushing towards the three boys and the two villains that were going to be gunning for them at any moment now.

“Senpai?! Todoroki?!” The redhead — Kirishima, Yang faintly recalled Ruby calling him — exclaimed. “What the heck’s goin’ on?”

“You didn’t hear the broadcast alert?” Todoroki asked, making the redhead stare and look more confused than Ruby with a history quiz. Yang sighed.

“Long story short,” she said, “villains took over the tower.”

“Wait, that's what this is about!?” exclaimed the blonde boy… Bakugo! That was it. Ruby’s personal problem puppy. Yang shook her head. Not the time to focus on that now.

“No time to explain! We can talk later.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the rest of the group reach the walkway above. One by one, they rushed off of the ice mound and ran towards the exit. A bit of relief washed over her. They were safe. Hopefully Yang could keep her promise and make it back.

Yang was broken from her thought and the tension returned at the sound of shattering ice. The group whirled around as the villains finally broke through the ice, most likely using the taller’s Quirk. The kids got into defensive stances, Kirishima’s Quirk shredding his sleeves. 

“What’s with this guy’s Quirk?!” Bakugo exclaimed, eyes narrowed. Yang wasn’t sure how to answer. Maybe some sort of wind manipulation? He could make whirlwinds or something like that?

Unsure of what to tell the boy, Yang instead called back: “Just stay on guard and keep your eyes focused on them!

“Shut up! I know that!” Yang huffed. What was this kid's problem? The villains walked slowly towards them.

“So, you wanna pick a fight?” said the shorter villain. To Yang’s dismay, his body shook. The villain transformed into a hulking purple beast with a loud roar. Oh, that was just fantastic…! “Then let’s see how tough you really are!”

Todoroki made the first move before Yang could call him back behind her. He immediately tried to freeze the beast with a wave of ice. However, the villain’s brute strength was enough to break it apart with just a few measly punches.

_ Great… _ Yang thought as the villain rushe towards them.  _ A strength Quirk _ . The students were on their toes, evading the villain’s rush of punches. Bakugo blasted back towards the villain before Yang could stop him.

“ _ DIE _ !” Bakugo shouted. He landed a direct blow to the villain's back, blasting back off of it in the process. He landed in a crouch on the ground. However, the beast-like villain recovered quickly. Yang’s eyes widened. Well, that was just great…

Bakugo didn’t expect this. He stood there, still stunned by surprise while the villain charged him.

“Bakugo!” Kirishima rushed past Yang and leapt in front of Bakugo, taking the brunt of the attack. His stone-like arms absorbed most of the damage, but the blow was still enough to send him flying across the planet factory. Todoroki attempted to catch him with ice, but even he smashed through that.

“KIRISHIMA!” Bakugo exclaimed as the redhead smashed into the opposite wall. Yang grit her teeth, digging her heel into the floor. Shit! She was supposed to be protecting these kids. They weren’t supposed to get hurt!

“Dodge!” Todoroki called out. Bakugo acted quickly, blasting himself up into the air as the taller villain attempted to send him flying back with a rush of air. Yang, however, wasn’t so lucky.

She caught Todoroki’s warning a little too late. She was sent flying backwards, landing hard on the floor and rolling away. So much for landing strategy… The damn villain even ruined her hair, a vast majority of her curls having come loose from its tie. Yang groaned, wincing as she pushed herself back up.

Okay… Maybe that landing hurt more than she thought… Oh well. For Yang, that was a good thing. She was running a little low on her battery's charge.

“Senpai!” Todoroki shouted.

“I’m fine!” Yang called back to him. She tore the tie out of her hair and slid it under her gauntlet. “Don’t worry about me!” A little attack like that? She could walk it off.

Todoroki sent another icy wave towards the taller of the two villains. It was enough to distract the villain and cause him to fall back. It didn’t last for long though. The ice was quickly wither away to nothing by the taller villain’s Quirk. Todoroki retreated back, coming by Yang and Bakugo’s sides.

They were pressed back-to-back with each other, with the villains on either side of the trio. And they didn’t look too pleased about their current situation at all.

“You kids know how to fight, don’t you?” said the taller of the two villains.

“Where’d you come from?” asked his partner. There were a few pops from Bakugo’s palms.

“Right,” the boy growled, anger seeming to have increased in the past minute. “Like we’d tell a couple a’ weakass villains.” Yang only smirked. They weren’t expecting hero course students to be here, were they. Well, now was the time to trip them up.

“I can give you my name,” she said, satisfied with the plan in mind.

“Senpai—” Todoroki started, only to be cut off when Yang put her hand on his arm. She knew what she was doing.

“Back home… I’m the future Burning Hero. My name is Firecracker… but you can call me sir!” Yang rushed over towards the villain who had thrown her back before, swinging her leg around and striking him dead in the abdomen. 

And then all hell broke loose. The fight had officially begun.

She couldn’t keep the boys from fighting — not with two villains like this and only one of her — but she could do what she could to help keep them from getting hurt. Todoroki went after the taller of the two villains, while Yang focused her attention on the beast and Bakugo. She could flip-flop between the two, doing her best to protect them from any powerful hits.

Any punches, kicks or moves that Yang could do, she did, even if it resulted in her skirt getting coated in soot from Bakugo’s explosions that she narrowly missed and dirt from the gardens.

Bakugo let out a yell, dissipating his own smoke with another explosion to the beast’s back. He countered, trying to slam the boy down only for Bakugo to dodge with his Quirk again… and again… and again.

Yang could’ve sworn that, as she jumped back towards his fight, Bakugo was doing his best to keep up with her. But why would he? The guy was as stubborn as an ass. Whatever the case, he was keeping pace with Yang — either on purpose or on accident. This was good for her. She could work with this. It was made even better with the embers starting to flake off of Yang’s hair.

Eyes spotting with red, Yang let a bit of her Quirk’s power out. She struck the villain, drawing his attention and keeping his eyes on her as opposed to Bakugo. The boy took this opportunity and blasted the villain, and when he turned to him, Yang came back with a heavy blow of her own. She heard something crack under the force of her fist.

If they could come to one agreement, it was this. Neither Yang or Bakugo were going to back down from this hulk of a villain. The blonde duo went back and forth, not giving the beastly villain a moment’s reprieve as they delivered their well-aimed blows, all while flying around to avoid being crushed.

This kid was tougher than he looked. Yang glanced over at Todoroki. She stuck the villain heavily in the face, digging her heel into his cheek before pushing off. She was sure that Bakugo could be fine on his own, even if it was for a moment or two. There was another matter to take care of.

Yang landed hard on the ground, skidding to a stop alongside the ice path Todoroki had made to increase his own speed. The half-and-half boy was propelling himself forward on his right foot to try and put distance between him and his opponent. He leapt off of the trail, skidding across the ground and sending a wave of ice at the taller villain. The villain rushed towards him, using his Quirk to turn Todoroki’s ice into large crystal-like spheres.

Aw, crap—

“Look out!” Yang shouted, rushing over to the boy. She tackled Todoroki to the ground, and the pair went rolling out of the way as the ice came crashing down to the ground. Yang stared at the ice as she got back up again. They were perfect spheres. It didn’t... “The hell? That guy’s Quirk is just creating wind—”

“I don’t think so,” said Todoroki as Yang pulled him back up. “This guy’s displacing matter!”

“Is that how his Quirk works?” Bakugo asked. He didn’t wait for an answer, looking back at his opponent. The villain had been blown back against Todoroki’s ice pillar and was starting to get up again. 

“Don’t learn, do you?” Bakugo continued. He blasted towards the beast, using his explosions to rocket up into the air. “Can’t keep messin’ around forever. It’s time to put an end to this!”

“Bakugo!” Yang shouted. He needed to get away from there—!

Bakugo himself ignored his senpai, and instead created a massive wave of explosions. He rotated himself up higher and higher until he decided it was enough. He plunged down towards, spinning like the human missile he turned himself into. The beast let out a cry, bracing himself for the force of Bakugo’s blow.

“Howitzer… IMPACT!” the boy exclaimed, his voice echoing throughout the room along with the large explosion caused by his open palm meeting the brute’s fist. He knocked the Quirk right of the beast, sending him flying back as he reverted to normal.

As if angered by the defeat of his comrade, the taller villain rushed towards Bakugo.

“Damn you!” shouted the taller villain. He waved his hand, sending a rush of air towards the boy.

“BAKUGO!” called out both Yang and Todoroki. Bakugo, thanks to the warning, managed to dodge just in time. The only thing that got caught in the vacuum was his arm. Even then, all it did was share the fabric of his shirt sleeve apart. The shreds landed in the villain's palm.

“Huh?” The villain reeled in disgust, staring at his hand. “What the hell?”

“That’s the sweat from my palms!” Bakugo smirked. Dude must’ve gotten more than he bargained for with that attack. Gross. “It works like nitroglycerin.” 

Wait. Yang raised a brow. Nitroglycerin? Wasn’t that stuff—

It took Todoroki a second to realize what to do. He sent a wave of flame over to the remaining villain. The second it came in contact with his palm, Bakugo’s sweat detonated with a loud boom.

The villain was sent flying back, and Todoroki managed to use his ice to freeze him in place. The ice grew to encase the villain from the neck down, immobilizing him completely.

It was over. They won. Good. Yang sighs, brushing what she could off of her clothes with one hand. 

“You kids okay?” she asked, turning to Bakugo and Todoroki and brushing sweaty strands of blonde out of her face with her other hand.

Bakugo, despite the fact that he was rubbing at his wrists, uttered out a “fine”.

“I’m okay,” added Todoroki. Yang sighed, relief rolling off her shoulders like a wave. Looked like all three of them are— 

Yang froze. ...wait, there were three 1-A kids here. Why was she only looking at two? The other two boys seemed to pick up on their senpai’s train of thought.

“Shit, Kirishima!” Now that the fight was done and over with, and their adrenaline as fading did they remember the boy who had gotten knocked out in the beginning of it.

The group rushed over to the crater in the wall. Kirishima was splayed out, spread eagle and stuck behind some debris from the collision.

“Kirishima!” Bakugo shouted. Thankfully, the redhead boy groaned from where he was stuck. Thank the gods, he was conscious—

“You alright, boulder boy?” Yang asked. Kirishima cracked an eye open.

“Um… I can’t move…” he said, his voice strained. “Senpai? Can you get me out of here?” Yang sighed and nodded. At least he was fine besides being stuck in the wall. Yang supposed his Quirk was to thank for that. It was really useful, honestly. She stepped over the debris, but before she could ease her underclassmen out of the hole—

“Are you that stupid?” Bakugo huffed, making Yang stop altogether. “Just turn your damn Quirk off, you idiot.”

“...Oh. Right…” Wait, his Quirk…? Yang watched as the boy’s forearms shifted in appearance — going from jagged and stone-like to soft muscle. Kirishima slid easily out of the dent he made in the wall, sheepishly looking down at his hands. “Guess I shoulda thought of that…!”

Yang simply snickered at the boy’s forgetfulness. She reached over, ruffling his hair as she normally did with Ruby. ...Jeez, how much gel was in this kid’s hair?

“Are you sure you’re okay…” Yang grunted as she pulled the boy back up on his feet, “Kirishima?” To her relief, Kirishima nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “What about you guys?”

“We’re fine,” Todoroki told him. For the most part, anyway. Yang was still pretty ticked about the state of her clothes. She had paid so much for this dress, and now it was ruined. Hopefully her dad knew some trick to get the stains out...

“Huh,” Bakugo turned away so that his back was facing Kirishima. Yang picked up on the pale shade of pink that was growing rapidly on his cheeks. “...Thank you.”

“Whoa, where did that come from?!” Kirishima gave Bakugo a bright, sharp-toothed grin. “Don’t worry about it!”

“Tch, I’m not worried!” Yang fought back a grin. He had been; that liar.

“Alright, now that’s taken care of…” Yang stretched out her arms, “let’s go catch up with the others.” An image of her sister and her own close friends flashed into her mind. They made it out safely, but that was the last Yang saw of them. ...she sincerely hoped that they were alright.

“Don’t order me around!” Bakugo shot back with a grunt while Yang and Kirishima hopped over the debris. Yang only rolled her eyes. What was with this kid…? But still, she led the pack of 1-A boys towards the ice mound, ready to follow after the rest of the group. They had to catch up as soon as possible.

“You really should respect Xiao Long-Senpai a bit more,” Yang heard Todoroki say behind her.

“Don’t lecture me, IcyHot!”

“Um…” As Todoroki and Bakugo started to argue in the background, Kirishima picked up his pace until he was right by Yang’s side. “Senpai? I think it’s time to give us the details about what’s going on.”

“Right,” she said. She supposed she owed the boys an explanation. “Well—”

Before Yang could say anything else, a sound of a siren started blaring in the plant factory. The kids all came to a screeching halt. From the destroyed door and just about every opening there was in the room came out red shelled robots, a signal sensor lit up and thick, spider-like legs that let them rush quickly towards the group until they had them surrounded.

The villains were in charge of the security system. They were in control of these things.

...crap.

“Looks like they’ve gotten serious…” Todoroki muttered, loud enough for Yang to catch. The group got back into their defensive positions. Yang grit her teeth, digging her heel into the concrete floor.

She glanced up at the top of Todoroki's ice pillar. The others had made it to the exit, but had they made it to the top? Were they still okay? Yang balled her hands up into fists to hide any fear over her family's safety. She had to be an example for these kids. she was their senpai, she was supposed to be a role model.

She couldn’t let them see her afraid. 

Yang bit the tip of her tongue as she and the boy rushed into battle. Hopefully the others could just hang in there for a little while longer.

* * *

Ruby could hear the sounds of fighting going on below — a melody of punching, kicks and Bakugo’s explosions. She grit her teeth, not wanting to look back as she and the remaining members of the group — Midoriya, Ochako, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, Kaminari, Melissa and Weiss — were continuing on with the race to the top. 

Unfortunately, life wasn’t going to make it that easy for them. The door at the top was barred by yet another metal barricade.

“This way’s blocked as well!” said Iida, pointing out the obvious. It wasn’t blocked, really. It was more like a dead end. Great, now what were they supposed to do?

“Well, that’s great,” said Kaminari with a huff. “What are we supposed to do now?!”

Midoriya pointed to something overhead on the ceiling. “Hey, Melissa! Where does that little vent at the edge of the ceiling lead to? Over there!”

“I think it runs under the maintenance room for the sunlight system,” said Melissa after thinking about it for a second.

“There’s probably an emergency ladder in the maintenance room, right?” asked Iida.

“Well, yeah there is, but it’s a manual release. Someone would have to be inside to let it down for us.” And there was no way they could reach it from down here… or even open it.

“Is this really as far as we go?” said Ochako. No, it couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.

“No, there’s still a possibility!” Everyone turned to Yaoyorozu as she spoke. Her hands were pressed over her chest, the light from her Quirk glowing underneath. Her Quirk — Creation — allowed her to make any non-organic object from her body, and Ruby had almost forgotten about it.

Yaoyorozu made a small device and before Ruby could ask what it was, Yaoyorozu threw it. It stuck to the vent, and a moment after it made contact, it exploded.

“Somebody climbs through the vent onto the exterior walls,” Yaoyorozu continued, “they can get into the maintenance room!”

“Right!” chimed in Ochako. “There must be another vent waiting inside!”

“They can get in that way!” said Melissa, getting a nod from Yaoyorozu. If that was the plan, then…?

“But who can go through such a cramped space, and then climb the outer wall without falling?” Midoriya mused out loud.

“I could use my Shadow clones to create a sort of man made-ladder to get up there,” Blake brought up, eyebrows scrunched in thought, “but I don’t know how steady it will be. Those things can only take a single hit, so I’m not sure how well they would do here.”

“My glyphs might just be able to help someone stick to the walls,” Weiss suggested. Right! Weiss’s glyphs allowed her to control motion to some extent, but could do so much more than that. They could provide stable platforms, too. “Not sure how well they'll work, so whoever goes up needs to be fast just in case.”

There was a moment of silence in the air. Someone fast…? All eyes fell on Ruby. She stared back at them.

“Why are you guys looking at me?” she asked. It too her a second to figure it out. “...Oh! You want me to go through the vent?!” She hadn’t run up a vertical plane before… Horizontal, yeah, but not vertical… and especially not one eighty floors up. “But what about Iida? He's fast, too!”

“Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to fit up there,” Iida told her. Ruby sighed. She knew that — Iida was significantly bulkier and taller than she was. It didn't mean she couldn’t hope. “My engines are still on cooldown for a while, too.” And that just made Ruby groan. From behind, Ochako put a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“You can do this, Ruby,” she said.

“Yeah,” added Midoriya. “You wall-ran during the Sports Festival! And with our internship training, I’m sure that you can do this.” Ruby drew in a sharp breath. She did, didn’t she? She nodded.

“Right.” Ruby drew in another breath. “I can do this!” Her friends believed in her. She just had to believe that they were right. Weiss turned to Ochako.

“Uraraka, use your Quirk to get us up there?” she asked. Ochako nodded, and Weiss turned to Ruby. “Once we get to the outer wall, I’ll keep up my glyphs so you can make it to the maintenance room. Okay? I’m not going to let you fall.” Ruby nodded. Weiss wasn’t going to let her fall.

Before Ochako could tap the two and put their plan into effect, Yaoyorozu grabbed Ruby’s shoulder.

“Wait, Rose, your stockings,” she said. Ruby glanced down at her tights. What about them? “They’re going to wear out or even melt to your skin with the friction—”

“Don’t worry about that,” Weiss cut in. Yaoyorozu stared at her. “I said don’t worry about that. I suspected that Ruby might take her shoes off at some point in the night, and given the fact that it’s… well, it’s Ruby, I factored in the possibility of her using her Quirk after that point in time. She’ll be fine. Her stockings can hold up under the friction Petal Burst causes, kind of like her sneakers or even the costume’s boots.”

She… She really did that for her? Ruby grinned.

“Weiss,” Ruby squeezed her friend in a tight, yet grateful, hug, “you are the best!”

Weiss gently pushed Ruby back. “I know.”

And at that, Ochako tapped them both. Under the effect of her Quirk, both Weiss and Ruby became weightless. Using Weiss’s glyphs to help steer and move them forward, Weiss and Ruby made it up to the hatch. As soon as they disappeared inside, Ochako released her Zero Gravity. Weight returned, and the pair began to crawl through the vent for what felt like longer than it really was.

They made it to the outside wall without a problem. And looking out the vent, Ruby realized how high up they were.

If she misstepped just once, then it was—! Weiss squeezed Ruby’s shoulder.

“I’m not going to let you fall,” she reminded her. With a flick of her wrist, a path of white glyphs rushed up the side of the tower. A small platform formed in front of them for Ruby to crawl out on. “I promise.”

“...okay.” Ruby swallowed something down as she crawled out onto the platform. She grit her teeth, hoping that there was enough stamina in her to get to the top. She just needed to get to the maintenance room… that was it. She could do it.

With Weiss’s glyphs to keep her in place, Ruby let her Quirk’s power flow through her. She raced up the side of the tower, sending flower petals scattering down below. How far did she have to go..? Wait, no, she could see the vent!

Ruby faltered for a second, slipping against the wall. She pushed herself, picking up her pace once more. Her friends… no, everyone on this island needed her right now. She wasn’t going to let them down!

All it took was one swift kick for what Ruby hoped was the maintenance room’s vent to break. Ruby darted inside quickly, letting out a heavy sigh when she was out of reach of falling. After taking a moment, the speedster began to carefully crawl through the duct. She — after a few tries — broke through the first vent she found.

With a yelp, Ruby went crashing to the floor below. She let out a small groan as she hit the floor. Okay… very bad landing strategy…! Ruby pulled herself up, slumping up against the wall. Her Quirk relied on her stamina, and with all that running they had been doing that night… she was going to have to be careful. ...lucky for her that this room was free of villains.

After a moment of rest, Ruby quickly began to search for the emergency ladder that Melissa was talking about. The relief that washed over her felt so good when she found it tucked away in a corner. Ruby acted quickly, finding the vent that Yaoyorozu destroyed and let down the ladder as quickly as possible. Her friends down below cheered, and swiftly began climbing up to the next floor.

One by one, they lent her their praise as they reached the ladder’s top. And then came Melissa.

“You were incredible, Ruby!” said Melissa as Ruby pulled her up. “As expected from a student hero.” Ruby chuckled, turning a bit pink.

“It was nothing…!” she said, trying to keep her face from turning any redder than it currently was.

Weiss clapped her hands together to get the younger kids’ attention. “Alright, let’s go everyone!”

The group cheered in response to that. They continued their race up the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the sudden cut-off, originally the whole chapter was just their climb up the tower but that got really REALLY long -- about twenty-eight pages. And I use pretty small font while typing to save space, so there's that, too. So things got split up.
> 
> I will also never understand why the other girls didn't take their shoes off. Running in heels is a skill, and so is fighting in them, but that doesn't mean you should do it forever. I'm surprised it was only Melissa who yeeted those suckers.
> 
> Next -- Act Four: Too Many Sentries
> 
> “There’s no way that they would let us go that easily. It feels like we’re walking straight into a trap.”  
> “Most likely.”  
> “But we’re almost there! We can’t give up now!”
> 
> “Indiscriminate Shock… 1.3 million volts!” 
> 
> “Blake! Checkmate!”  
> “On it!” 
> 
> “You can’t… hold it forever…!”  
> “I’m going to try.”  
> “Senpai!”
> 
> “With your Quirk, you’ll be able to get them to the top faster than I can.”
> 
> “You did a good job, Uraraka. Now, let’s make sure it wasn’t in vain.”  
> “Right!”  
> “Okay, kids! You heard the woman! It’s time to kick ass and take names!”
> 
> “Yang, what are you doing?”  
> “Improvised Freezer Burn!"
> 
> “Bumblebee!”  
> “Got it!”
> 
> “Huh? What happened?!”


	5. Too Many Sentries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The villains are desperate to stop the kids by any means necessary -- even if it means turning the security system against them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following chapter contains violence against machines and badass good girls. That's basically all I can think of.
> 
> There's also team attacks because why not? You read the preview in the last chapter. Things is about to get awesome, Weiss Blake and Yang are about to be badass -- something that we probably won't see again until Shie Hassaikai.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Up ten floors to ninety… another ten floors to the hundredth. They were halfway there by now. And so far, there was just the one villain encounter. They managed to avoid danger so far, which had to have been a good sign. So, the group kept on going floor after floor after floor...

“Seems like we’ve gotten pretty lucky!” said Kaminari, mostly out of breath now as they continued their climb. “The path’s been clear since we passed the 100th floor!”

“Yeah,” Ochako agreed, “you think we lost them maybe?”

“There’s no way that they would let us go that easily,” said Blake, making a pit drop into Ruby’s stomach. “It feels like we’re walking straight into a trap.”

Weiss huffed. “Most likely.”

“But we’re almost there!” said Ruby, trying to find a little positivity left. She knew what her friends were just being realistic, but… “We can’t give up now!” This was so close to being over! 

The U.A. students and Melissa continued up the tower. Ten more floors… twenty more floors… By the time they reached the 130th floor, the group ran into another problem as they entered what Ruby assumed as some sort of generator room with a platform walkway.

The kids were yanked back (Ruby and Midoriya were yanked back by Iida and Weiss before they could get caught) and hid behind the entrance to the room. They were going to have to go through here to continue their climb. The only thing they had to do was get past the security system waiting there for the… in the form of robots. The kids carefully peered out at their newest obstacle.

“So many robot sentries…!” said Ochako. There was a flood of them waiting for the kids.

“The villains aren’t just going to block us in anymore,” Iida’s eyes narrowed as he peered out at the robots himself. “It looks like they're actually trying to capture us now.” Ruby softly sighed. Well, that was just great...

“If so, then I bet they realize that we’re hero course students,” said Midoriya.

“After the show that Yang and your classmates put on down below, I wouldn't be surprised,” Weiss mused. Ruby let out another sigh. Yeah.. her sister definitely would’ve let something slip while teasing the villains. It was how she worked in combat. She tripped up her opponents both with her blows and with her words.

“If that’s true…” Yaoyorozu dropped to her knees, taking the initiative. Her Quirk went to work as she created something out of her back. It popped into the air and fell over the group. Ruby recognized it as an insulated sheet, much like the one she created during the Sports Festival to protect her cavalry team from Kaminari’s electricity. “No reason not to show them what we can do!”

“You’re right,” Ruby caught sight of a fierce look in Iida’s eye as he spoke, “We’ll go ahead and commence with Plan A.” Weiss and Blake glanced over at him.

“What’s Plan A?” Weiss asked.

Iida didn’t say a word to her, simply turning to Kaminari instead. “Ready, Kaminari?”

Kaminari pounded his fist into his hand with a prideful smirk. “You got it! I won’t let you guys down!” He held out his fists. “Let’s do this, Iida!”

Iida took Kaminari by the wrists. “Right.”

Iida revved up his engines. He started spinning quickly on his heel, doing the same to Kaminari in the process. After a few seconds, Iida let go, throwing his classmate up into the air. Sparks began to fly from the blonde’s body. Like the electrified cannonball he became, Kaminari hurtled toward the bots.

“Indiscriminate Shock…” he cried out, “1.3 million volts!” He let his electricity fly right in the epicenter of it all. Right! Kaminari’s Quirk allowed him to generate the stuff, discharging it from his body in all different directions at will. But… Electrification did nothing. The bots were barely fazed by it.

“It’s not working!” said Midoriya, his voice wavering on the last syllable.

“Fine!” Kaminari said through grit teeth, letting out a short growl in frustration. “How about we try two million volts?!” The boy put lal he had into his Quirk, his output growing stronger. Sparks danced wildly, bolts of electricity glowing like the sun and shooting out in all different directions.

“Don’t!” Jirou shouted. “If you do that, then—” It was too late. Kaminari had pushed his Quirk to its limits, the charge becoming greater and brighter. It soon faded into the air, only sparks remaining behind. And Denki Kaminari dropped to his knees, let to deal with the side-effect his Quirk had on his. Jirou groaned. “—you’ll turn stupid…!”

“What just happened?” Blake asked as the kids shed the sheet.

“It’s a side effect of Kaminari’s Quirk,” Ruby explained as the group walked over to where Kaminari had dropped. “When he discharges too much electricity, he kinda… fries his brain for a bit.” Blake only hummed at that.

“Well, at least he stopped the robots for us, right?” said Midoriya, trying to find a positive in the situation.

He might have just jinxed it. The moment the group got too close to the robots, they reactivated. Their red shells opened, and wired ropes shot out, wrapping around and restraining Kaminari.

“Kaminari!” cried out Jirou.

“I had a feeling that this was too easy…” said Blake, starting to unwind the ribbon around her arm, “the security in this place is like Tartarus Prison!” The robots’ sirens blared loudly, making Blake wince at the noise as they charged towards the students.

Iida didn’t seem fazed by this sudden plot twist. “Right then. Quick, Plan B!”

“On it,” said Yaoyorozu, as if reading the class rep’s mind. She went to work with her Quirk again, quickly creating what looked like sticks of dynamite. She popped the top of the sticks off and threw them at the robots. As it hit the ground, a cloud of glittering smoke came out of it. “We can jam their communications with these!”

 _Way to go, Yaomomo!_ The robots fell back a little, struggling to find their way around. Yaoyorozu created more of her flares, and the girls grabbed them, following their friend's example by popping the tops off and throwing them in the robot horde.

The smoke bombs filled the hallway, keeping the swarm from detecting the kids to some extent. But they wouldn’t last forever. If only they had someway to block them off—

An idea popped into Ruby’s mind.

“Weiss, your gl—!” Before Ruby could finish her sentence, the two older hero course students were already taking action. Weiss made her glyphs in a flash, making a circle around the bots and trapping them in place.

“Blake!” Weiss called out just as her glyphs finished settling into their places. “Checkmate!”

“On it!” Blake responded, her ribbon finally loose from her arm. The pair rushed forward, much of the shock of their underclassmen.

Glyphs surrounded the small area of the bots with a wave of Weiss’s hand. Blake gave her a boost into the circle before jumping in herself. They moved in tandem, using the glyphs as platforms to push off of. Each girl stepped down on the top of the bots, going between them and a glyph before repeating the pattern, either using their feet to deal some damage, or with Blake causing some problems by using the magnetic end of her ribbon. How heavy was that thing…?

One of the bots seemed to reach up. From the confines of its shell, it shot out some sort of cord to try and catch the two girls attacking its comrades. Weiss acted quickly, jumping on it and stabbing its sensor with her heel. In the next moment, she changed the trajectory of the glyph Blake landed on, pushing her out of harm’s way. She did the same with her own.

Both girls flipped over the sentries again, dealing one final blow to the horde. Still, they threw cords at them in an attempt to capture the student heroes. Blake let a clone get caught, but Weiss wasn’t so lucky. She tried to get a glyph up to deflect the attack, but the cord simply wrapped around the hem of her dress, separate from Weiss’s legs thanks to the skirt’s slit. It only captured a chunk of fabric, as Weiss had ripped the bottom half of her skirt to free herself.

Weiss used a glyph to catch herself, dissipating the ones she used to surround the robots in the process.

“Our senpai are so cool…!” said Yaoyorozu with a sparkle in her eye. Just as she did, Blake was thrown back by a sentry, who had caught one of her Shadow clones sinead. 

“Blake!” Ruby cried out as the cat girl landed on all four behind her. More seniors were rushing towards the students.

Blake quickly pushed herself back up. “I’m okay.”

“Our turn,” Iida turned to the other two of his more speed-sided classmates. “Come on, you two!” Ruby nodded, rushing up to her friends’ sides. Midoriya quickly began to shed his suit jacket.

“Let’s go!” he said, rolling up his sleeve to reveal a red bracelet around his wrist. Midoriya gave it a simple tap, and the bracelet began to glow blue. It wrapped around his forearm like a cast, forming a fingerless gauntlet. Ruby stared at it. Whoa, where did that come from?1

Before she could ask any questions, Midoriya activated Full Cowling, snapping his friend back to reality in the process. He landed a successful smash that sent an entire group of bots soaring away, with Iida doing the same with a powerful kick. Ruby meanwhile, rushed forward, grabbing Kaminari and rescuing him from the fray before he too could be sent flying.

“Jirou!” Iida said, turning back to the punk girl in question, who already had her jacks jammed into the floor. “Do they have backup?!”

“Yeah! Coming from the left!” Jirou told him. Ruby raced back with Kaminari slung over her shoulder. She wasn’t sure how long she could carry him and fight at the same time. Luckily for her, Iida seemed to understand this. He took Kaminari from Ruby the second she made it back to him. He heaved the boy over his own shoulder and onto his back.

Blake quickly wound her ribbon around her arm. “Then we’re heading the opposite way.”

No one argued against that, all of the kids rushing off away from the security sentries.

“Deku, what’s with that glove?” said Ochako as they ran, her eyes on the gauntlet Midoriya was wearing. “It’s amazing!”

Midoriya brightly grinned and nodded before turning to Melissa. “It works perfectly, Melissa. Thanks!”

“I’m so glad you brought it!” Melissa said with a relieved sigh. Midoriya sheepishly grinned.

“I didn’t know how to get it off my arm…!” Melissa giggled at that. Ruby hid a chuckle of her own as the group continued on, with Weiss falling back a bit to Melissa’s side.

Ruby caught her complimenting the gauntlet. Melissa — as she had found out earlier — was a student at the island’s university, studying support items like her father. She wasn’t surprised that such an amazing person could make such an amazing piece of gear.

They ran up the tower, going until they finally found their staircase. Lucky for them, it was unlocked. they kept going until they reached the 132nd floor. Under Weiss’s instruction, Jirou used her jacks to listen carefully to any machines that might’ve been waiting ahead for them.

“I hear a lot of those security machines on the floor below us,” she relayed to the others finally.

Ruby felt a lump form in her throat. “That’s where Yang and the others are.”

“Yang’s tough,” Blake reminded her. “I’m sure she’s okay.” Ruby bit her lip, but nodded. Right. Yang was tough. She could take down villains and her opponents with no problem! And Bakugo and Todoroki and Kirishima with her too. The villains stood no chance against all four of them.

“Any sounds from above?” asked Midoriya. Jirou shook her head.

“No,” she said, as she pulled away from the wall. “Should be clear.”

Ruby let out a sigh. They were more than halfway there. They had made it this far, they could do it!

She had hope.

* * *

The group continued their race up the tower. One… two, three… four, five, six—

It was strange, Weiss thought to herself, that they weren’t being attacked again for that long. And her thought must’ve jinxed it. As the thought left her mind, they were accosted again. The group of heroes ducked into a nearby room, rushing through to continue on with their mission. They only made it halfway through before the door opened again. More sentries came out of it rushing towards the group as fast as they could.

“A trap?” guessed Iida.

“Looks like it,” Weiss replied, biting back a huff. Why were they so hellbent on stopping them?! If only Yang had kept her mouth shut—

“Then let’s break through!” With nods from his speedster classmates, Midoriya got ready to attack alongside Ruby and Iida. Before they could do anything, however—

“Wait a sec!” The heroes-in-training froze as Melissa rushed up to the, none of them having even made a move yet. “We can’t damage these servers. It could affect the island’s security system!”

Oh… well, now what? Sentries were being deployed from above the servers now too, dropping on onto the kids like skydivers. Ruby let out a groan.

“How many of these things are there?!” she exclaimed, sounding frustrated.

“We can handle these machines while protecting the servers,” said Momo, stepping forward much to Weiss’s surprise. Both she and Iida got low to the ground. A bright light began to channel around her chest, pulling the opening of her shirt down in order to avoid tearing it with her creation.

“Senpai, go,” Iida let Kaminari slide off his back and into Jirou’s arms. “Take Melissa and see if you can find a different route.” She understood what he was trying to say, however...

“Don’t think for a second that we’re leaving you kids to handle this all on your own,” Weiss told him her eyes narrowed. He was a smart kid — Weiss had seen so for herself, but as their senpai, she and Blake had the task of keeping the younger students safe. Iida opened his mouth to say something, but Weiss had already turned to Blake. “Blake, I trust you can keep going?”

Blake nodded. “You know that I can.” She turned to the green-haired boy. “Midoriya, I need your offensive Quirk here.”

“Y-You need me?” Midoriya stammered, as if not expecting her to say that at all. Blake nodded. The boy’s expression grew determined. “I won’t let you down, senpai!”

“I’m going, too!” Ruby exclaimed, making both Blake and Weiss’s eyes go wide.

“Ruby—” Weiss started. She and Blake had promised to keep her safe.

“It’s okay. The more offense we have, the better,” said Midoriya, trying to reassure the other girls quickly. There wasn't time to argue about it, and he might’ve realized that. “And I might be fast, but with Rose’s speed, we’ll get there quicker.” Blake sighed, but nodded. Okay, Ruby was going with them now.

“Ochako,” Melissa grabbed the zero gravity girl’s hand, “you should come with us, too.”

Uraraka’s eyes widened. “But, the robots—”

“Do it,” Iida told her, giving Uraraka a reassuring and softened look. “They may need you.”

After a second, Uraraka nodded. The group split even further there, with Ruby, Midoriya, Melissa, Uraraka and Blake rushing off further into the tower. Weiss watched them as they went, keeping her fingers crossed that Blake could get them safely to the top of the tower. She trusted her.

Weiss let out a little sigh as they finally made it through the door and out of her sight. She could worry about him later. Right now, she had to focus on what as in front of her.

The 1-A students. The security sentries. She was going to protect these kids, protect her friends. Make sure they made it to the top without anything standing in their way.

Weiss was snapped out of her train of thought by the loud rev of an engine.

“Torque over… Recipro BURST!”

Iida made the first move. He rushed forward in an impressive burst of speed that rendered him almost a blur. He swiftly kicked through the swarm of roots around him, smashing them almost clean through. From behind, Momo had finally finished up her creation.

A cannon.

“You’ll take over the gun, then…” Momo told Jirou, stumbling onto her own feet. “I’ll make us some soft ammo!”

“Roger that!” said Jirou with a nod. The girls swiftly got into position. Jirou fired the cannon that Momo had made, hitting the machine with her ammo. The balls exploded upon impact, creating a sticky foam that kept their opponents from going further.

While it was a good defense, there was still a problem with it that Weiss saw.

“Momo—” Weiss started.

“I’m okay!” Momo shot back quickly. “Just… Just focus on them!” 

Weiss grit her teeth. She had to trust that Eraser had taught Momo well and that she knew what she was doing. If only she wasn’t pushing herself to her limit… She shook her head. If she wants to help, then she had to get moving.

If she was a second too late—

Weiss let her muscle memory do the talking for her. She created her motion glyphs with ease, using them to catch the sentries that got a little too close. She moved with the grace and swiftness of her sister — her own mentor — switching the glyph from white to black— push to pull — and back again, sending the sentries she catches flying back the way they came. 

As Weiss continued with her defenses, Iida’s offensive began to give away. His speed couldn't last forever. After only a few seconds of activating his move, his engines sputtered and gave out.

The sentries took advantage of that and jumped him. Weiss acted quickly as she caught it out of the corner of her eye, creating a glyph to block the from him.

“Iida!” cried out Jirou. She tried to fire the cannon, but only got a click. “Yaomomo, ammo!”

Weiss glanced over her shoulder when Momo didn’t reply. Her face drained of what color it had. Momo was on the ground, panting heavily. Her arms were shaking as she struggled to keep herself up.

“That’s… my limit… with creation…!” Momo panted, before her arms finally gave out. She fell, with Jirou catching her before she could hit the floor. Weiss knew that Momo was pushing herself. She should have stopped her—!

The sentries fired their wires out. Weiss quickly waved her hand, and the robots caught nothing. A series of glyphs had barred them from reaching any one of the younger students. There was no way Weiss was going to let the villains lay a hand on them.

“Iida, over here,” she said — voice firm and sounding like her older sister when she meant business. “ _Now_.” He didn’t question her. Iida darted back over, with Weiss creating even more glyphs to keep the sentries away from him. As soon as he was safe by Momo and Jirou’s sides, Weiss changed the motion. White glyphs turned to black and threw the sentries back against the wall.

“You can’t…” Momo groaned, trying to push herself back up, “hold it forever…!” Weiss knew that. Quirks were physical abilities. She couldn’t keep using hers like she was. However...

“I’m going to try.” Her skills were mostly defensive, so she could use that to protect her kouhai long enough for the others to take control of the,m system… but there were so many. How long could her glyphs hold against them? Part of her wished that she brought some sort of support item with her like Yang and Blake had. Maybe then she could switch to an offensive strategy—

Unless… She hasn’t had the chance to try it out yet, but now was a better time than ever. Weiss leapt over her own glyph wall.

“Senpai!” Weiss ignored the underclassmen’s shouts. Instead she rushed on forward, focusing on creating a glyph behind her. The robots launched out their binding cords in an attempt to catch hold of her. But still, as they came closer, Weiss put all she had remaining in her into her glyph. It had finally taken form. Now came the hard part. 

Even if they take her… she hoped the barrier she has up around the kids will hold.

“Summon,” Weiss came to a screeching halt in front of the robots, “Arma Gigas!”

The glyph started to spin faster. If she could just get it…! Weiss grit her teeth, putting a little more power behind her Quirk. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots it starting to form. The blade of a sword… it’s hilt, a hand, an arm… She fought back a small smirk. It was working. The move she had been working on since the start of her second year was actually working.

Weiss’s hands were shaking. She could feel herself pushing the limits of her power, calling on every ounce of strength she had left. She had to… Even if it was just this arm, she had to…!

The arm swung its sword, cutting through the ropes with ease. Even before they fell, the arm dealt another blow that destroyed the sentries in its path. Weiss felt a shaky grin curl up on her lips. The robots were gone. She lowered her hand, and the glyph faded, taking the arm with it. She had no choice to. Creating that defense had used up all her remaining strength.

Her knees were shaking, and she was about ready to drop. Weiss perked up when she heard cheering behind her. She turned, staring at the 1-A kids. What were they…?

“Fantastic!” Iida was applauding her. “The true strength of our upperclassman on full display!”

“That was amazing, Ms. Schn—” Momo cleared her throat at the last second, “um, W-Weiss-Senpai!” Weiss couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t work like she expected, but at least the 1-A kids were…

“What was that?!” asked Jirou, eyes wide. Right… that.

“Something that I’ve been working on for a while…” Weiss sighed. She couldn’t get the full version of it, but at least she managed to partially summon it. “It’s a unique property of my family’s Quirk that only a few of us are able to use.” Ironically, it had been herself, her sister and their grandfather — all of them Pro Heroes. Perhaps that had something to do with it? “We’re able to create allies to fight for our side… so long as they've defeated the form prior in combat.”

“So, that was a villain?” asked Iida. Weiss froze for a second. A villain.. not exactly, but not quite incorrect either. How was she going to explain this…?

“No…” The scar over her left eye stung for a moment, as if the cut that left it was still fresh. “That was… from… training—”

Before Weiss could come up with a viable explanation and take a breather, a mechanical whir rang in the air. Another fleet of security sentries rushed around the corner and charged at the students.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Weiss groaned. She acted quickly, surrounding herself, Momo, Jirou and the two boys with glyphs in order to defend against their attackers. But it was no use. The glyphs only flickered before disappearing entirely. Weiss’s eyes widened.

No!

Weiss twirled back around to face the sentries. She couldn’t use her Quirk, but she could still—! She threw out her arms, knowing that it wouldn't be enough. But still she needed to do something! The cords came shooting out at her, and Weiss shut her eyes.

Much to her surprise, they never reached her. Weiss cracked an eye open. The cords had fallen to the ground, lifeless. The sentries retracted the cables as Weiss lowered her arms. There was a whir of power, and they lowered themselves. Did they… did they just shut down?

Weiss’s eyes widened and relief flooded her body. Only now did she notice how badly she was shaking. She let herself drop to her knees.

“Senpai!” Iida rushed forward, catching his upperclassman before she could hit the ground.

“I’m alright…” Weiss quickly reassured him. As Iida helped her to stand again she looked over at the sentries. It was like they had just shut down altogether. They would only do that if one thing happened. 

The other group made it to the top.

* * *

Blake, Midoriya, Ruby, Melissa and Uraraka continued on. They could hear the sounds of Yaoyorozu’s cannon going off behind them. The loud booms were hurting Blake’s ears, but still. She led the pack without faltering. She had to keep pushing forward… She had to make sure that they could get to the top and stop this mess.

Blake glanced over her shoulder at the others. Uraraka, Ruby and Midoriya were falling behind, the sounds of their friends fighting must’ve been worrying them. However Blake didn’t need to say anything to get them to pick up the pace. They were encouraging each other, pushing each other out to keep going, otherwise everything would have been for nothing.

But deep down, they were still a bit scared — Blake could see it. But she knew different. Weiss had those kids. Yang was surely fighting with the others. Blake knew that they would be one.

At least, she hoped they would be.

The group pushed on, Blake doing her best to ignore the sounds going on in the background. With the others keeping the sentries busy, they were free from the threat of attack. Melissa ushered the group into an open area on the floor, with a missing wall and full of wind turbines.

“What is this?” asked Midoriya as the group slowed down at Blake’s request. If they were bringing Ruby for her speed then conversing her stamina wherever possible was a must. They couldn’t keep running forever.

“The wind power generator,” Melissa replied simply.

Midoriya looked around the open air room. “So what are we doing here?”

“There are more robots in the tower. Probably just waiting there for a chance to ambush us. But if we climb to the top from here, we’ll avoid them. There’s an emergency exit we can enter.”

“All the way up there?” Blake squinted. She could see a tiny door at the top. Was that it?

“But we have Ochako.” Melissa turned to Uraraka. “Your Quirk makes anything you touch weightless, right? So this should be easy.” Out of the corner of her eye, Blake could see the subtle shake of Melissa's hands. She was scared, Blake could tell. She wasn’t used to situations like this. ...to be fair, Bake was sure that she would never get used to villain attacks. They would make it through this soon enough.

Blake would make sure that they went as fast as possible to get the others out of danger.

Uraraka nodded with a determined look in her eye. “Leave it to me.”

Blake caught Midoriya by the shoulder before the plan could be put into motion. “You’ll need someone to watch your back.”

“Senpai—” Midoriya started. Blake sucked in a breath.

“Ruby.” Ruby stared at her. 

“Me?” she said, sounding like she didn’t believe it one bit. Blake nodded. They needed speed if they were going to get through this.

“With your Quirk, you’ll be able to get them to the top faster than I can.” Blake turned to Ruby, a hand on her shoulder. “Just don’t overexert yourself, alright? And keep an eye out for each other.” Ruby once again nodded. Blake let out a sigh. Yang was going to kill her for letting Ruby go up without her.

“I’ll keep them safe,” said Melissa, as if catching on to Blake’s unease. Blake nodded. They’d be fine. They had trained, they had Melissa with them… they’d be fine.

“Both of you, hang onto Deku,” instructed Uraraka. And then it was time.

Both Melissa and Ruby nodded. Midoriya wrapped his arms around the girls’ waists, holding them close to him. Blake took note of the red creeping up on his cheeks when he did so. Uraraka reached out, tapping the trio with the pads of her fingertips. 

“Go!” Ochako shouted. Ruby pushed off the ground in a burst of rose petals, sending the three shooting upwards, heading towards the door at the top. Okay… things were going fine. If they just— “Oh no!”

Blake’s hope was dashed when a door to the room opened. Security bots rushed towards Blake and Uraraka. Of course… she should’ve expected any less. Blake immediately started to unwind her capture weapon. 

“Uraraka! Uraraka, release your Quirk!” Blake ordered, digging her boot into the floor to keep herself grounded. “Now! Get out of here!”

“I can’t! If I do that, they might not make it to the top in time!” Blake grit her teeth. She was right, but the younger students’ safety was supposed to be her first priority. She looked up and Midoriya, Melissa and Ruby. Could she let them go…? Should she let them keep going?

...she had to.

The robots rush towards Uraraka and Blake, with the Pro Hero in training ready to fight. Just a little faster…!

Before the pair were swarmed and Blake could throw out her capture weapon, there was a loud boom. In the nick of time, an explosion blew the robots away from the two girls. Blake’s eyes widened when she saw the source: Katsuki Bakugo.

That meant—!

The rest of the robots were frozen in a wave of ice shortly after Bakugo landed. 

“Blake!” Blake heard a gratefully familiar voice cry out behind her. She and Uraraka turned. Yang and two of the 1-A boys — Todoroki, Blake remembered and she believed the other was Kirishima — rushed into the battle. 

Relief washed over Blake like a wave on the coast as Yang ran into her, holding her close even if it was for a brief moment. “Yang…”

“Todoroki and Kirishima, too!” added Uraraka as the boys caught up to them. Their clothes were torn, Yang looked like a mess, but they were here.

“That was close,” said Todoroki, “are you okay?!”

“Yeah, fine.” Yang took Blake by the shoulders, her grip still tight but grounding.

“Where’re Weiss and Ruby?” she asked. Oh, here came the harder part—

“Weiss stayed behind to protect the others so we could get Melissa and Midoriya to the top,” Blake explained, trying to think of a way to make this blow softer. “And Ruby—”

“I used my Quirk on them,” jumped in Uraraka. Yang turned to her. “They should be able to reach the top. Ruby went with them because of her Quirk.”

Yang whirled around to Blake. “And you let her?!" Blake wasn’t sure what to say. It was luck that Uraraka saved her.

“She was the only one who could get them there fast enough!” Blake sighed. No, this was her problem. She shouldn’t let her kouhai handle it for her.

“I trust her, Yang, and so should you,” Blake told the blonde. “She’ll be okay.” Yang huffed upon hearing that, but said nothing more on the matter. All she did was nod. Blake then turned to Uraraka. “You did a good job, Uraraka. Now, let’s make sure it wasn’t in vain.”

“Right!” Yang turned to the boys.

“Okay, kids!” she said with a sharp clap on her hands. “You heard the woman! It’s time to kick ass and take names!”

“On it!” said Todoroki with a nod. He jumped into battle immediately alongside his fellow hero course students, unleashing a wave of ice to immobilize the robots. Well, she had their respect pretty quick. Especially considering—

Bakugo began blasting bots away with his explosions. “Who died and made you boss?!”

Kirishima knocked some of the sentries away with his hardened arms. “Aw, come on man! You guys actually work pretty well together!”

“Dream on!” Yang simply rolled her eyes. She smashed two robots in her path with the help of her gauntlets, using them to make her blows heavier. Blake let her own Quirk’s power flow through her, creating enough Shadow clones to mess with the robots’ sensors. They couldn’t tell which was the real Blake, allowing her to easily get the drop on them.

“Thanks so much you gu—AHH!” There was a Midoriya-esque screech from above. Blake looked up in panic. One of the wind turbines had caught Ruby, Midoriya and Melissa in its wrath and was starting to blow them off course.

“Oh no!” cried out Uraraka. “They’re blowing away!”

“Ruby!” shouted Yang. Todoroki acted quickly, rushing towards the wind turbines and shucking off his jacket.

“Bakugo!” he called out to the explosive blonde. “Aim the propeller at Midoriya! Quick!”

“I told you not to give me orders!” Bakugo shouted back, though he was propelling himself upwards already with his explosions.

“Just shut up and do as he says, Blasty!” Yang yelled. With a growl, Bakugo gave in.

“Shut up, Firecracker!” Bakugo blasted the turbine with a mighty explosion, knocking it out of place. It teetered, leaning dangerously over the edge but didn't exactly all. What was…?

At the sight of fire trailing up Todoroki’s arm, Blake managed to put the pieces together. “Senpai!”

“I got you!” Blake threw the one end of her capture weapon towards the turbine. It wrapped around the one support still holding it in place, and Blake pulled it. It creaked, and Blake felt Yang wrap her hands around hers. Together, the two managed to yank the turbine down into the correct position. Todoroki rushed behind it and blasted the turbine with a jet of fire. It whirred, producing hot air that rushed towards Midoriya, Melissa and Ruby. It raised them higher, getting the three right back on track. They reached the door.

“They did it!” exclaimed Uraraka, while Kirishima cheered beside her. The girls in the air seemed to brace themselves as Midoriya let his Quirk course through his body, and through his arm. He broke through the wall and the three disappeared through the hole he made. The three of them successfully infiltrate the top floor. Uraraka tapped the tips of her fingers together to release them from her Quirk’s power. 

“That’s one problem taken care of…” Blake sighed. She and the rest of the group looked out at the robot horde that was surrounding them. “But we still need to take care of these things.

“No problem!” Kirishima hardened his forearms into stone once again. Blake could see a look on Yang’s face that she wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. All she knew was that it meant— 

“I have an idea!” Yang exclaimed. Yeah.. that’s what she thought. “Todoroki, freeze the ground!”

Todoroki just stared at his senpai. “What?”

“Just do it! A thin sheet of ice across the surface!” Todoroki swallowed something down before nodding. He slammed his palm down against the floor, coating a large portion on it in ice and doing his best to avoid his classmates and senpai.

“Yang, what are you doing?” Blake asked a brow raised. This was similar to one of the many moves that they and Weiss had put together towards the end of their first year, around the same time that they were given the assignment to create their ultimate moves.

The three girls thought that if they were going to be working together in the future, that it would be a good idea to have special moves that built upon their combined strengths.

“Improvised Freezer Burn! Out of the way, kids!” Blake held back a smirk of her own, cupping her hands and crouching down as Yang dashed towards hers. The kids listened to their senpai’s orders and jumped back out of the way. Yang used Blake’s hands as a stepping stone, and with the help of her friend, was thrown up into the air.

Yang came back down and with a glowing fist, struck the epicenter of the ice circle with her fist. It evaporated upon shattered contact. A wave of mist rose up around the group, covering the entire lower half of the floor. The kids, Blake right behind them, rushed towards the broken circle and Yang. They all stood back-to-back with each other.

“Nice going,” Bakugo hissed, “now we can’t see shit!

"Yeah, but neither can they. It messes with their sensors!” Yang explained, and Blake could hear Bakugo mutter something under his breath. “Now, break!”

That was something that no one argued against. The group split apart, using the mist to their advantage. Blake became nothing more than an afterimage, using her Quirk to dodge and avoid capture by the sentries. She was practically dancing around a dashing Young, who had narrowly missed her friend by an inch when she raced past. A blast erupted from nearby as Bakugo blew apart a few of the security robots himself. Blake winced at the loud noise. Why did his Quirk have to be explosions of all things?

Meanwhile, Todoroki and Uraraka were sliding around on the former’s ice. The ice was splitting apart the robots in its path or freezing them in place to keep them from gaining traction on the ground. Whatever Todoroki missed, Uraraka tapped with her fingertips. They floated up high into the air before—

“Release!” She pressed her fingertips together and sent them hurtling back towards the ground with a loud crash. Blake couldn’t help but smirk at their performance. Eraser was doing a good job with these kids. They were doing better than they did at the Sports Festival, which at this point was only a few months ago.

Blake took aim with her capture weapon, dashing back and forth and using the heavier end to deal out some damage. At this point, she was almost moving in sync with Yang. The blonde was smashing through the sentries without a problem, as Blake moved around her to throw the robots into each other and off the edge in the rare case. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake caught sight of Kirishima smashing through a sentry's shell with a stone arm breaking it in half. What he failed to notice was that a new one was coming up right behind him

“Kirishima!” Blake called out. Before she could make the move to do anything, Yang rushed in. Quite literally. She ran past Kirishima in an impressive burst of speed and punched straight through its shell.

Another robot, however, shot its restraints out at Yang. They wrapped around her wrist, and the robot pulled. She was yanked back above it, slamming down into a support column before being yanked back down towards the floor. Blake’s heart skipped a beat when Yang didn’t get back up. She knew that she would be alright, but the kids—

“Senpai!” cried out Todoroki and Uraraka.

“Is she okay?!” Kirishima exclaimed. Blake, much to the kids’ surprise, nodded.

“Don’t worry about Yang,” she told them, breaking a robot’s sensor with the magnetic end of her capture weapon. “Her Quirk makes her special.”

Bakugo’s face screwed up in confusion. “The hell do you mean by that?!”

“You saw her earlier. Just watch.”

The moment that the sentry who had attacked Yang thought it was safe, it pulled her back up. Blake could see embers starting to fall from Yang’s hair. She grinned as the blonde strands turned into a brilliant white, lighting up with a brilliant flame. Her eyes opened. What was normally purple had turned into a bright red.

Yang had activated her Quirk.

Yang pushed against her restraint. While she wasn’t exactly strong enough to break them, she did manage to loosen them enough to break free. More cords from the robots shot out at her in an attempt to capture her. All Yang did was catch them instead. With the ropes tight in hand, she yanked them. The sentries were pulled towards her. With a yell and a smirk, Yang used her free hand to smash through the horde with a single punch, obliterating them under her force.

1-A was stunned for a moment. This was Yang using her full power.

Yang was caught off guard by another sentry that grabbed her wrist. It pulled her again, sending her towards the rest of the group. Yang managed to pry the restraint off, but as she went flying past the team—

“Bumblebee!” she shouted. Blake quickly recalled her capture weapon.

“Got it!” she called back. She acted quick, throwing out the end of her capture weapon towards Yang. The blonde caught it, and practiced muscle memory took over for both of them. Blake used the momentum gathered by Yang flying past to swing her around, keeping one heel planted on the ground. Yang extended her leg out, getting in multiple hits and knocking over the sentries nearby.

But it wasn’t enough. They were fast, and were staying out of Yang’s range. Blake couldn't move from her spot to get in closer. Even with how much they had practiced with their combined ultimate move, that was still something they had yet to perfect. And 1-A seemed to pick up on that.

“We have to slow them down!” said Uraraka.

“Just how the hell do we do that?!” Bakugo barked. It didn’t take long for the kids to figure out what to do.

“I have an idea,” said Todoroki. “Kirishima, Uraraka, Bakugo: lure them over to Belladonna-senpai!”

“Wait, what are you doing?” asked Kirishima, which honestly was something that Blake wanted to know herself.

Todoroki didn’t answer his classmate. Instead, he just rushed past the two upperclassmen, careful to avoid getting hit himself. While he took place behind, the other kouhai did what they were told… well, Kirishima and Uraraka did their best to catch the sentries’ attention. Bakugo simply kept blasting them apart when they got too close.

But still, he was going along with the plan that Todoroki had formed, even if he didn’t realize it. All three were luring the sentries closer and closer, until they reached right where Todoroki was — behind Yang and Blake. With a shout from Todoroki, Bakugo blasted over them and out of the way. It was only then that Blake realized what Todoroki’s plan was.

The boy slammed his palm on the ground, freezing the area, and doing his best to avoid Blake as he did so. He froze the sentries in place. He slowed them down. Just what they needed.

With the robots unable to move, their victory was assured. With a cry, Blake swung her partner around one more time. Yang collided with the sentries, sending them flying into the air before crashing down in a hundred pieces. The blonde herself let go of the capture weapon and flew to the other side of the ice field. She landed in a skid, remaining upright although she was panting heavily. Her hair and eyes returned to normal. Blake pushed her own sweaty hair out of her face.

She was so dizzy… Blake forced herself up straight, reeling in her capture weapon. She could hear the kids — Uraraka and Kirishima mainly — cheer at their senpais’ attack.

“You guys are so cool…!” said Uraraka. Blake felt herself blush. It was really nothing. Just normal hero work for them. There was no need to get so excited about—

“Heads up!” Yang called out as she rushed back towards the rest. Sentries were coming out of their only exit point, and were making a beeline for the students. “It’s not over yet!”

Of course it wasn’t. The group stood there, ready to jump back into the fight again and prepared for the next barrage of attacks. But it never came. As the robots closed in on them, Blake tightened her grip on her capture weapon.

And then the sentries stopped. They lowered themselves to the ground and the lights from their sensors shut off. The students of U.A. stared at them. ...what were they doing?

“Huh?” Bakugo straightened up, but didn’t back down. He simply stared with the rest of them. “What happened?!”

“They just stopped…” said Uraraka. Blake and Yang exchanged looks with each other, the former looking up at the hole on the top floor. This meant only one thing that they could think of.

Blake grinned. “They made it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time --  
> Act 5: Heroes Straight Out of Our Dreams
> 
> “Let’s go then. We’re almost to the top.”
> 
> “That’s David Shield? But why is he up here? Shouldn’t he be down in the reception hall with everyone else?”
> 
> “What does he mean that it’s like you planned it? Don’t tell me that… you’re the one behind this…? This was all you…?"
> 
> “No, what do you mean? The villains are fake… It’s all supposed to be an act.”
> 
> “It’s like you said before, we don’t let each other do things alone! Let’s go save the professor together!”
> 
> “This is what heroes do!”  
> “They help people who are in danger! They save people from villains like you!"
> 
> “I know I can’t! But I have to try!”  
> “Ruby!”
> 
> “Is he going to be okay?”  
> “...I hope so…!”
> 
> “Alright 1-A! Show this asshole what you’re made of!"
> 
> “PLUS ULTRA!”


	6. Heroes Straight Out of Our Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby, Melissa and Midoriya arrive at the top of the tower. Soon, however, they find that everything is not what it seems to be... and are forced to confront the true mastermind behind the attack on the I-Island Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final act in the story is upon us! Well, kind of. There is an epilogue after this, so I'm not sure if that counts as the final act or not. Oh well.
> 
> The following chapter contains violence, a man beating children with metal and two people getting shot. Yeah, someone for once actually uses a gun in this series, surprisingly.
> 
> I should also note that because the kids never hear the villains' names, they're not listed here. Sorry about that. I just never heard them when scripting out the scenes I needed.
> 
> Anyway, onto this epic final battle!

The moment the trio were at the top of the-Island Tower, Ruby felt the effect of Ochako’s Quirk release on them. She, Midoriya and Melissa went falling through the hole Midoriya made with a smash, landing on the floor with… not as harsh a thud as Ruby expected. It was like hitting a mattress, really. ...Why didn’t they it hit harder?

“Deku!” Melissa exclaimed. It took Ruby a second to realize what had happened. Upon their landing, both Melissa and Ruby had landed right on top of Midoriya. The girls scrambled back.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked as Melissa helped Midoriya up.

“I think so…” Midoriya replied. “I’m more worried about you two.”

“I’m fine,” said Melissa, looking down at her arm. “Just some scratches.”

“I—” Ruby’s reply was quickly cut off when her fight-or-flight turned on. A man had jumped between the group, with Midoriya acting fast and dodging out of the way with Melissa in tow. Ruby leapt back in the opposite direction. They all went rolling across the floor as this man — whom Ruby assumed was a villain — rushed them. She sat up. The man, a villain with a sword-like appendage for an arm, swung said arm only to be parried by Midoriya’s gauntlet.

“You shouldn't have come here!” the man growled. Were they sending the villains after them again?!

Midoriya was struggling to keep the villain away. “Tell me why you criminals are doing this!”

The man said nothing. Ruby acted without thinking, dashing forward with a yell. She jumped up, hoping to land a kick from behind. The man’s other arm turned into a blade as well, catching Ruby with the flat side before she could even land a blow on her. 

“You chose the wrong place to play hero, kids!” the man struck Midoriya as he threw the girl away from him. The blow Midoriya took knocked him off balance and over the edge of the broken wall. Ruby’s breath hitched as she landed on her toes, seeing her friend’s hands grab at the ledge trying to hold on.

“Midoriya!” Ruby shouted. The man laughed, raising his arm and prepared to finish off the hero's student. Ruby got to her feet and prepared to get him away from her friend. 

Melissa, however, had other plans as she tackled the villain from behind, grabbing a hold of his arm. “Stop it!”

“Get out of the way!” growled the villain. Melissa shrieked as the villain knocked her aside with his bladed arm. “Little girls—”

Midoriya had crawled back up, and with Full Cowling at the ready, struck the face with a fully charged smash that threw him into the staircase. Relieved, he rushed over to his friends. Ruby pushed herself back up.

She scrambled over to where Melissa had been thrown. “Melissa, are you okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Melissa said, raising her arm. The villain had cut her forearm, and a small dribble of blood was beading up on her skin. “Look, it’s hardly even bleeding.”

“Here, let me.” Midoriya crouched down beside her, ripping his tie off and using it as a makeshift bandage. He began to tie it around her arm. “I apologize. We couldn’t protect you.”

“Yeah…” Ruby added. Heroes were meant to save people and protect them from getting hurt. If she was just a bit faster—!

“I think you mean ‘thank you’,” said Melissa, much to Ruby’s surprise. Thank you…? Melissa was smiling. She was thinking them, even though they put her in danger. Midoriya returned her smile as he secured his tie around her wound.

“Right,” Midoriya stood up, and the girls followed suit. “Let’s go then. We’re almost to the top.”

“Yeah.”

Ruby felt herself smile alongside Midoriya. They could do this.

* * *

With a newfound confidence, the trio continued their race up the tower. The villains weren’t going to let them go that easily, however. It wasn’t that long before gun-wielding henchmen appeared to try and shoot the student down during their ascent. 

But they weren’t prepared for their Quirks.

Ruby with Petal Burst and Midoriya with Full Cowling propelled themselves off of the wall, moving in near sync with each other. It didn’t take much effort to take them down, with Midoriya punching one down the stairs and Ruby dropping kicking the other. 

And when they finally reached the top floor of the tower, Ruby couldn’t have felt more relieved. They were so close to their goal. Melissa led them through the halls of the two hundredth floor, sneaking around corners and sprinting silently down the halls in order to avoid getting caught.

“Melissa,” asked Midoriya as they ran down one, “where’s the control room located?”

“In front of the central elevator,” Melissa replied. Okay, so they weren’t that far. The group slowed to a halt as they rounded a corner. Midoriya held out his arm, keeping the two girls back before they could continue on. 

“Someone’s in there.” What? The trio peered around from their corner of safety. Nearby, a room was open. From what Ruby could see, it was some kind of storage room. Two men were making their way inside. The only one she caught a good look at was one with light brown hair and glasses. He was older — maybe her dad’s age. And he looked awfully familiar… But why would that…?

Melissa let out a sharp gasp. “Papa!”

...Wait—

“That’s David Shield?” Ruby asked in a harsh whisper. Midoriya nodded. It was so weird seeing him in person, but— “But why is he up here? Shouldn’t he be down in the reception hall with everyone else?”

“Maybe the villains brought him here,” Midoriya suggested. “They might need something from him.”

“We have to help him,” said Melissa. Ruby nodded.

“Right.” Midoriya and Ruby went first, carefully creeping up to the storage room with Melissa trailing behind. If something went wrong, then it would be a good idea to keep her as far away from it as possible. Still. They snuck over to the storage room’s door, careful not to make a sound and listening in on what was going on inside.

Ruby could see the professor at a control panel in the center of the room

“I’ve unlocked it,” said Professor Shield. “Locker 1147.”

“Wonderful!” a blonde man that Ruby could only assume was the professor’s assistant said. He rushed to go towards where he was directed.

“It’s opening.” The assistant extracted a simple, metallic briefcase from the wall as the professor stepped away from the control panel.

“You did it, Professor.” The assistant opened the case, showing Professor Shield something inside. “Look, everything is here. It’s perfect!”

“Finally. I’ve gotten it back… All my research… and they just took my device away from me. But now it’s mine.” Ruby faltered for a second. Midoriya and Melissa froze at the door alongside her. What… What were they talking about…?

“Just like we planned. And it looks like the villains are holding things down.” The professor went to join his assistant.

“Thank you. I couldn’t have done any of this without your help, Sam.” Melissa had enough by this point. Her lip was quivering, her hands were shaking and it looked like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Papa?” she said, her small voice echoing throughout the room as she entered. Her father whirled around in surprise.

“Melissa…” the professor's face drained of color. “No!”

“Miss,” Professor Shield’s assistant quickly shut the case again, “what are you doing here?”

“What does he mean that it’s like you planned it?” Melissa asked, ignoring the assistant's question. “Don’t tell me that… you’re the one behind this…? This was all you…? Just to steal something…? No… It can’t be true!” There was a beat. A look of shame crossed the professor’s features, but was wiped away only after a moment. 

“...yes,” the professor said solemnly, “it is.”

Ruby stumbled as she and Midoriya finally caught up to Melissa’s side. It… It what? Melissa stood frozen in place.

“Papa…” she said, eyes watering, “how could you?!”

“The professor is only trying to get back what was stolen,” said the professor’s assistant, holding up the briefcase in his hand. “The invention inside this briefcase… can amplify someone’s Quirk.” Ruby’s eyes widened. Amplifying someone’s power… It reminded Ruby of her friend Jaune’s Quirk. Did it replicate that? At least to some extent… They could make something like that…?

“Wait, is that even possible?” Midoriya asked.

“Yes. It’s still being tested, of course, but unlike with drugs… This device can magnify a person’s Quirk without doing any damage to their body or brain.” Okay so not Jaune’s Quirk. Professor Shield said nothing on that matter, simply looking at the ground. “Yet despite that.. our sponsors confiscated this prototype and our research data. Then they demanded that the project be abandoned. They worried that something like this would drastically affect the structure of superhuman society. Fearing chaos, governments from different nations put pressure on your father to end it. That’s why we did this.”

The kids couldn’t help but stare in disbelief.

“I don’t understand,” said Melissa solemnly. “There’s something I’m missing, right? You’d never do this!”

“I’m so sorry…” was all Professor Shield said. Everything started to sink in. The professor — someone so highly revered and did so much good in the world — was the one behind this whole mess in the first place. The danger everyone was put in, Ruby’s friends and family fighting to protect them , to save them… It was all so he could get his work back…?

Melissa was on the verge of tears. “This doesn’t make any sense… The Papa I know and love wouldn’t act like a villain, no matter what! So why then…? Why?!” 

The professor couldn't look at his daughter at all.

“I had to for All Might,” he said. That caught Ruby’s attention. All Might…? “You three probably are unaware of this, but his Quirk is disappearing.” It was… what…? “However, if he uses this device, he’ll be his old self.” The professor finally turned back towards the kids with a sad grin. “No, his abilities will be even stronger than they were! The number one hero… a symbol of peace… can get his strength and light back again! He can keep saving people, just like he always has!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby caught sight of Midoriya’s face falling with despair. She understood why. Everything… it stabbed her in the heart. The professor just wanted to help his friend, but… this wasn't the right way to do it. It put too many people at risk.

“Please.” Professor Shield raced up to his assistant and took the case from him. “Please, just let me hand this device over to All Might. There’s no time to remake it! When he’s better, I don’t care what kind of punishment I receive!”

He just… wanted to help All Might…?

“They risked their lives…” Melissa’s breaking voice snapped Ruby out of her thoughts. She unwound the tie on her arm, displaying the cut she had received not too long ago. “Deku and his classmates went through so much! Do you know how dangerous this was?! How hard were we trying to save everyone on the island?!” The professor stared at his daughter.

“No, what do you mean? The villains are fake…” Ruby raised a brow. The professor… genuinely look confused. What was going on? Professor Shield turned to his assistant. “It’s all supposed to be an act.”

What the kids had run into wasn't an act at all. They were repeatedly attacked and separated, fighting for their lives and the lives of others all night. Melissa had been injured. So what was—?!

“Of course it was a performance,” boomed a deep voice that made Ruby jump. Everyone turned. Standing in the doorway was a man in a long coat, his face completely covered by a mask that to Ruby looked like it was made of scrap metal. At least one other man was flanking his side. “But the real act was pretending that we weren’t criminals.”

...what?! It took Midoriya a second to realize, and by then he was already powering up Full Cowling.

“You’re the boss!” he shouted as red energy became green. The villain touched the room’s door, sending sparking blue energy out from where he made contact. That move… Ruby’s eyes widen. Something about that move—!

“Izuku, look out!” she cried. Ruby went to push him out of the way, but for once, she wasn’t fast enough. A metal railing that once surrounded the center of the room and its control panel now broke free from its welded place like an angry snake. It wrapped around the two students, restraining them in place along with a few more metal poles.

“Oh no, Deku, Ruby!” Melissa shrieked. She rushed over to where the two were trapped. Ruby stared at the villain. If she was right then his Quirk let him manipulate metal with just a single touch… A Quirk like that… A Quirk like that, why did it seem so familiar to her?! She had seen it before, but right now, she couldn’t think of where.

“You’d be smart not to resist,” said the villain. “Sam, hand it over.”

“Right!” The assistant took the case from Professor Shield’s hands and rushed over to the villain, giving it directly to him. Ruby kicked at the air.

“Sam?” said the professor in disbelief. “This was your plan?! You were going to hand it over all along?!”

“You’re the one who tricked  _ me _ , Professor. I’ve been your assistant for all these years, and you let them take our work. We could’ve had fame and fortune! But no! I deserve more…. I need to be rewarded…! Otherwise my entire career was a complete waste of time.”

Ruby felt a pit drop in her stomach. Such a betrayal… She didn’t need a certain Quirk to know how much it had hurt the professor.

“Here's the payment I promised you,” said the villain, withdrawing something from his coat. Ruby didn’t realize what it was until she heard a loud bang. Her heart jumped in her throat as she stared at the smoking gun the villain was holding.

“Sam!” Melissa gasped as the assistant dropped to the ground, clutching his bleeding shoulder. He had shot him. The villain had actually shot him.

“No… why?!” the assistant pleaded. “This isn’t part of the plan!”

“Is it not? That’s strange… Because it was always a part of mine,” the villain grinned darkly. And everything happened too quickly as he pulled the gun's trigger again.

Melissa’s breath hitched in her throat. The hero course students’ eyes widened.

David Shield had jumped in front of the bullet, taking the shot to the back of his shoulder. He fell to the ground with a harsh thud. Blood splattered on the ground and began to pool around him. No...

“Professor…” said the assistant in surprise, “why?!”

“Get…” Professor Shield could barely even move, wasting his energy on a warning, “out of here...!” Melissa didn’t listen.

“PAPA!” she screamed, rushing towards his side.

“Stay back!” Before Melissa could even get close to her father, the villain got to her first. He whipped her with the butt of his pistol hard, throwing her back to the floor. “Melissa!”

Ruby could feel the metal bands trapping her beginning to creak as Midoriya struggled against them harder, Full Cowling charged. He was fighting with every ounce of strength he could manage to break them. Ruby kicked at the floor, squirming and trying to wiggle herself free. The villain stepped on the professor’s wound, digging into it with his boot.

“Tryin’ to play the hero after all this?!” said the metal villain. “Too late for that… no matter what your reasons were, you’ve dirtied your hands now. Whether we’re real villains or actors is irrelevant. You planned and committed an actual crime here. You’re exactly the same as we are. You can no longer remain a respected scientist. Or continue your research without shame. Your life is forever tainted by the darkness of villainy.”

The U.A. students fought against their binds, struggling to free themselves as hard as they could while the villain picked the professor up by his shirt’s collar. 

“And if you want a future at all, you’ll be a good scientist and mass produce this device so I can sell it,” the villain continued. He smacked the professor with the pistol in hand, knocking him unconscious. He then turned to the minions that allowed him in the room. “Hey, take him to the roof.”

“No…” Melissa was shuddering on the floor, crying as the villain looked down upon her with uncaring eyes. “Please, no…! Give him back…!”

“That reminds me…” He took aim at Melissa. Ruby started thrashing against her binds, wanting desperately to find the strength to break free from them. “This’ll be much easier if I get rid of the professor’s attachments—”

And that did it.

“Don’t you…” Midoriya finally snapped, breaking free, throwing the metal poles off of him and mostly off of Ruby with an absurd amount of hysterical strength. “...hurt her!”

While Ruby fell to her knees, Midoriya rushed forth in an energetic burst. He leapt off the wall, rocketing towards the villain as Ruby got to her feet. She made her way to Melissa, helping the girl back up.

The villain, meanwhile, counteracted quickly. By simply touching the floor he was able to erect a metallic wall to bar Midoriya from even getting close. Midoriya was able to make a sizable dent in it with his impact, it didn’t break. Midoriya glanced over to Melissa.

“Melissa, we’ve got the Professor and Sam!” he called out to her. “You save everyone else!” Right… Melissa was the only one who knew how the system worked! Melissa’s eyes widened for a moment, but still. She nodded and rushed towards the door.

“Stop her!” barked the villain. “Don’t let her escape!”

“Right!” The minion that had accompanied the main villain ran after Melissa. Midoriya tried to follow, but was quickly blocked by an iron wall. Luckily for the heroes, Midoriya's brain was faster than that man’s Quirk. 

“Rose!” he called back towards his friend, dropping to his knee and cupping his hands together.

Ruby understood almost immediately. “Alright!”

She ran at him, jumping up into his open palm. With the help of Full Cowling, Midoriya gives her a boost up, helping her get to the top of the wall so she can conserve her stamina. It was a considerate thought in the heat of the moment, even if it was just a little thing. Midoriya then leapt after her, jumping off the walls to get around them himself. Both hero course students managed to cut off the henchman in record time, just as Melissa dashed out of the room. The villain stumbled back in surprise as the pair landed right in front of him.

“We won’t let you pass!” shouted Midoriya. There was a solid beat, and before Ruby could make some sort of move, Midoriya had roughly shoved her with the power of Full Cowling. She hit the ground, rolling across the floor. What the heck was that for?! Once she stopped, Ruby realized what exactly he had done that for.

The villain had struck Midoriya with a metal pillar, with the boy bracing himself with his gauntlet just to keep himself from getting crushed.

“Don’t make threats you can’t live up to, kid!” the villain shouted as he barraged the boy with more metal pillars, trapping him against the wall sides. He was struggling to keep the weight off of him. 

“Izuku!” Ruby exclaimed.

“I’m fine!” Midoriya shouted back. He was not fine. He was clearly not fine. Ruby grit her teeth, her mind made up in a flash. She dashed towards the villain, leaping up and lading a sharp kick to his jaw. She bit back the pain as her heel met with aluminum. The villain hipped around, throwing her off of him. Metal creeps up around him, like snakes aiming for the girl. Dang metal manipulation quirk…! She shouldn’t have let him touch—!

Metal manipulation… that needed touch to activate.

It clicked.

“That’s it! Your Quirk!” Ruby exclaimed out loud. There was a light burning in her eyes. “My friend has one just like it! Which means… I know how to beat you!”

Maybe saying that out loud wasn’t the best idea. Angered or annoyed by this latest development, the metal villain sent twisting poles towards Ruby. Unfortunately for him, the girl was swift on her feet and dodged them with ease. Before he could attack again, the island’s security system that wormed its way around the room whirred to life. Ruby grinned. That could only mean one thing.

“She got control of the system?!” the villain growled in disbelief. Ruby, however, initially was cheering, bouncing on her toes with joy.

_ Way to go, Melissa!  _

In hindsight, Ruby should’ve been paying more attention. Furious at the kids’ victory, the villain took aim at Ruby and fired. While she dodged the bullet successfully — thank the gods for her speed Quirk — Ruby didn’t dodge what happened next.

Ruby had backed herself into the wall. Before she realized what was happening, the villain had his hand on the floor and the metallic wall had become a bubble that kept her in place. Ruby stood there stunned and barely able to move. She stood there as the villain escaped with the professor.

“NO!” Ruby screamed. They failed. Tears brimmed the corner of her eyes. There was nothing left she could do. It was dark in the metal prison. There was very little light inside of it, with only one point from where she can see. It wasn’t even enough for her to stick her hand out of. But she could see. And she saw electricity crackle from where Midoriya had been trapped. ...That was the energy the Full Cowling made.

Izuku Midoriya broke free with a loud bang. He collapsed on the ground, with bruises forming from where he had been ruthlessly hit. He was struggling to get back up. Ruby called his name.

“I’m fine!” he shot back at her.

“No, you’re not!” Midoriya managed to push himself back up, his arms shaking.

“Don’t worry about me, Rose.” Just because he said that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to. “Just get back!”

Ruby didn’t want to argue. She backed up as far as she could, pressing her back hard against the wall. Light charged up on Midoriya’s arm, and the next thing Ruby knew, her friend had broken through her prison with a smash, leaving a big enough hole for her to crawl out through. She stared at him.

“What are you doing?!” Ruby exclaimed as Midoriya stuck his arm through the hole, holding his hand out to her. “The professor—”

“It’s like you said before, we don’t let each other do things alone! Let’s go save the professor together!” Ruby stared at him for a moment, letting his words sink in. In the end, though, she nodded and took his hand. With a grunt, he pulled her out of the metal trap.

As soon as her feet were back on the ground, Midoriya let go. He was grimacing in pain. That last attack had hurt him, and Ruby knew it. She offered her hand out to him. Midoriya accepted her offer of support, slinging his arm over her shoulder. Together, they moved as one and raced towards the roof.

They may not have been Pro Heroes yet, but Ruby and Midoriya were going to do whatever they could to help save the day.

* * *

Ruby moved as quickly as she could, fighting back the urge to use her Quirk in order to reserve her stamina as much as she could for the fight ahead. She just hoped that it was enough. The villain didn’t leave that long before she and Midoriya did. They had to be able to make it in time!

She and Midoriya made it up to the roof, the latter tightly gripping the former's shoulder to stand on his own. They pushed the door open just in time to catch sight of the boss villain dropping a semi-conscious Professor Shield into a waiting helicopter.

“Stop!” Midoriya screamed. The villain stopped and turned to them. Irritation was burning in his eyes. But it wasn’t enough to make them back down.

“Give the professor back!” Ruby and Midoriya both shouted this time, and that broke the camel’s back.

“I wonder!” he said, almost maniacally. “Did you come to bring this man back so he could pay for his crimes?!”

“Of course not!” The power of Full Cowling was now coursing through his body, Midoriya pulled away from Ruby. “We’re here to rescue David Shield from the likes of you!”

And that was it. The pair went racing forward, using Superpower and Petal Burst to try and get the upper hand. But the villain only smacked his palm on the ground.

“Even though he’s a criminal?!” he shouted. A metal pillar came rushing at the two students. Ruby ducked, and Midoriya swiftly dodged, jumping up and running along the pillar itself. Ruby followed after him on the roof’s floor.

“Criminal or not, does it matter?!” Ruby fired back. After everything that had happened, the professor had become as much of a victim of this scheme as they were. “We’re going to save everyone, Professor Shield included!”

“It doesn’t look like that to me!” The villain unleashed a massive flurry of metallic pillars upon them, all with a single goal in mind: to crush the students.

“Shut  _ UP _ ! “ Midoriya screeched. Once again, the speedy students used their Quirks to their advantage, dodging the villain’s attacks with ease. “This is what heroes do!”

“They help people who are in danger!” Ruby added just as loud, and her eyes narrowed. “They save people from villains like you!”

“How exactly?!” said the villain as he turned the gun in his hand on Professor Shield, much to the shock of the two hero course students.

“Save yourselves…” croaked the professor, wrists and ankles bound with metal strips. “Run away!” Both Midoriya and Ruby landed on the ground. There was no way that they would do that. That was clear enough without them needing to have said so.

“Jeez. Bein’ a hero seems really inconvenient,” said the metal-warping villain. “I didn’t even use much of my power, and yet, you’re helpless!” He touched the ground again, taking control of the roof with his Quirk. A metal pillar shot forward, smacking right into Midoriya. He was sent flying back across the rooftop, with Ruby only narrowly managing to avoid the attack.

“Midoriya!” Ruby shouted. Was he—?!

“I’m fine!” she heard Izuku reply. Two more pillars came down, but thankfully Petal Burst and Superpower gave the duo enough speed to dodge it. As Midoriya dashed away, a third pillar came up from below. It rammed into him, with the boy unable to escape collision with three other pillars.

It hit him, sending Midoriya hurtling towards the ground like a ragdoll. Ruby acted quickly, rushing over to him in a burst of rose petals. She caught Midoriya in her arms before he could hit the ground. The villain boarded the helicopter.

“Thanks,” Midoriya said, Ruby letting him down.

“Don’t mention it,” Ruby replied. The helicopter started to take off as Midoriya tried to stand on his own two feet. He stumbled, but remained up. He was shaking. They both were. But they weren’t giving up just yet.

“You said you recognize his Quirk?” He had heard that?

“You remember Pyrrha Nikos, right?” Midoriya nodded. “His Quirk is the exact same as hers. Pyrrha needs to touch metal before she uses her Quirk on it, too. He can’t do anything in the air without ruining his getaway.”

“Good…” Midoriya immediately charged up Full Cowling, making Ruby jump back. He dropped down into a crouched position before leaping up towards the helicopter, using the twisted metal to help him. Ruby followed right behind him after a second.

As soon as she caught up and they were nearing the end of their makeshift ramp, Midoriya reached back. Ruby held out her arm and he grabbed it. Not thinking much about the consequences of their move if it failed, Midoriya threw his classmate, sending her flying up towards the helicopter before leaping after himself. Ruby quickly grabbed a hold of the helicopter as she reached it, Midoriya hitting the skids a second after her. She slipped for a moment, but managed to keep a hold of it.

The pair’s weight threw off the helicopter’s balance, sending it spinning in the air. Ruby tightened her grip on its side. Oh boy, she really didn’t want to fall from this height tonight—!

“No, you’re…” Ruby heard the professor say, still somewhat conscious. Aside from the bullet wound, he seemed alright. Hopefully they could get him safely out of here—

From below, Ruby could hear someone call her and Midoriya’s names. She glanced down. Melissa had run up to the rooftop. She bit her lip. They’d all make it back down to her, she swore it.

Midoriya hauled himself up onto the helicopter’s landing gear, Ruby struggling to do the same. Most of her strength was in her legs, not her arms. She managed to balance herself on the skid, gripping tightly onto the door. Midoriya held out his hand to Professor Shield, Ruby doing the same once she was sure that she wasn’t going to fall.

“Professor, come with us!” she said. All he had to do was take their hands—!

“Stop it—” the professor started. Midoriya slipped for a moment, but managed to regain his grip on the door’s ledge. Ruby took him by the arm and helped him back up. “Let me go!”

Midoriya reached out once again. “Melissa is down there! Your daughter is waiting for you!”

And that caught his attention. Before Professor Shield could make a move, however... 

“I’ll give you this… you act like real heroes.” Ruby’s breath hitched. The villain was now standing above the kids, a gun aimed at Midoriya. “But you’re idiots, too!” He pulled the trigger.

_ No! _

The bullet nearly missed Midoriya. David Shield had kicked the villain, just about tackling him from his restrained position and throwing off his aim. Still though, the shock of it all caused Midoriya to lose his grip.

“Izuku!” Ruby quickly reached down and grabbed his arm before he could slip away from her hold entirely. Despite her hand shaking, she kept as firm a hold on the boy’s arm. Above the professor was fighting back against the villain the best he could.

Ruby tried to pull Midoriya back up. She could barely lift her arm halfway.

“Let go,” shouted Midoriya, which only made Ruby’s grip on his wrist grow tighter, “you can’t hold us both!”

“I know I can’t!” At this height and with her arm strength, there wasn’t any way that she could. But still… “But I have to try!” 

She wasn’t going to let go… She was going to keep holding on, doing what she could to keep them both up as long as possible… She needed to pull him up… She was never going to let Midoriya go.

“Ruby!” Izuku cried out. Something white started to prick the corners of Ruby’s vision.

There was a beat as his eyes went wide. Ruby tightened her grip to the point where her hand was shaking, and she was sure that she was going to leave some sort of bruise. Tears pricked her eyes as her fingers, damp with her own sweat and grime from fighting, slipped from the helicopter’s skids.

The two students shrieked as they started freefalling. Midoriya used the hold that Ruby had on him to his advantage. He pulled her close to his chest, wriggling his wrist free in order to wrap both arms tightly around his friend. They crashed into the roof of the tower below, bodies denting the metal with the impact’s force. As the dust settled, Midoriya was still tightly holding onto his partner.

Ruby didn’t move as her eyesight returned to normal, both the blow and the weight of everything having knocked the wind right out of her. She… She couldn’t hold them up after all. And now the villain got away.

“Come back…!” Midoriya weakly shouted, though he was nearly in tears. “You can’t…!” Ruby could only stare at the scene above her. Melissa came rushing up to the crater they made.

“Are you hurt?!” she asked. Ruby only managed to shake her head, most words getting stuck in her throat. Midoriya…

Without much warning, Midoriya sat up, knocking Ruby out of his lap. He was shaking.

Ruby reached out her hand to him. “Midoriya…”

“Let him go! Don’t take the professor!” Tears streaked down the boy’s face as he cried out in frustration and pain. “ _ DAMMIITT _ !!”

A familiar voice rang out through the air.

“Don't you dare lose that smile! Alright, Young Midoriya?!” Midoriya sharply gasped and Ruby went still. A blur rushed past the trio on the rooftop. All Might had quickly ascended the tower, leaping high above the helicopter. “It’s fine now! You know why?! Because I am here!”

“All Might…!” said Ruby, unable to stop herself from smiling. He was finally free! All Might destroyed the helicopter with a single blow. It exploded, with the hero emerging from the wreckage with Professor Shield in his arms. Their hero landed beside them, placing the process for own on the rooftop.

“Papa!” Melissa cried out as she rushed over to her father. She dropped down, kneeling by his side while the helicopter crashed in a fiery blaze in the background. All Might easily broke the restraintants that the villain had bound around the Professor’s wrists.

“I… Melissa…” Professor Shield stammered, not sure what to say after everything. Ruby helped Midoriya back onto his feet. The boy held his injured shoulder as the two walked over to everyone else.

“Everything will be okay,” said All Might. It was upon hearing those words that Ruby sighed, letting all the tension and fear she had been clinging onto go. Everything would be okay.

“We did it,” said Midoriya with a heaving sigh. Melissa had a few joyful tears in her eyes. Ruby tiredly grinned, tightening her grip on Midoriya. They were all safe now… It was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.

“I’m… so sorry,” said the professor, leaning into his daughter’s touch. “It’s my fault.”

The tender moment was cut brief. An iron pillar came out of nowhere, slamming into the number one hero and throwing him away from everyone else.

“All Might!” Ruby and Midoriya cried out. They couldn’t move to see if he was alright, as the entire rooftop shook not a second later. Thick strips of metal bloomed out of the helicopter’s debris, racing over and wrapping themselves around the professor. They yanked him back towards the crash and towards a figure wreathed in flame and metal.

As much as Melissa, Midoriya and Ruby screamed for him, they could do nothing but watch as David Shield was wrapped in thick metal ropes, sucked into the hulking iron beast made from the rooftop and scraps of the helicopter.

“I heard Sam. All Might’s Quirk is failing him!” echoed out a voice from the structure that shouldn't have been there. Ruby’s eyes went wide as she spotted the man behind the whole invasion at the top of the tower. His clothes and mask were destroyed from the crash… but in his mask’s place was the Quirk Amplification Device. His voice echoed with an almost technological double. “He doesn’t have the same unstoppable power that he once did!”

“He’s using the professor’s device!” Midoriya exclaimed. From behind them, Ruby heard All Might harshly cough. Was that… Was that steam coming off his body…?

Before Ruby could think more about it, the number one hero acted too quick and shot towards the villain.

“TEXAS…!  _ SMASH… _ !” All Might’s attack was met with a giant metal wall. No one moved. They only stared. It… It didn’t work.

“Is that all you got?!” fired the villain. With a wave of his hand, pillars extended out from the wall and knocked the hero away. He took control of the whole tower, quite literally this time. The ground beneath the heroes twisted and shook.

The entire top second of the tower becomes the villain’s plaything. Under his power, it was wrapped and tangled into a massive, mix-matched fortress of metal that somehow managed to tower about everyone. And he stood there at top of it all like some sort of tyrannical king.

“David Shield’s genius lives up to its reputation. I can tell my Quirk’s growing more powerful!” said the villain with enough pride to make it seem like he had created the device instead. “It feels amazing! I’m never taking this off!”

“I have no idea that he created something so powerful…” Melissa muttered as if she couldn’t manage to get her voice any louder than that.

“How did he even get a hold of it?!” Ruby exclaimed, trying to wrap her mind around the possibility. It should’ve been destroyed in that smash!

“Now…” the villain grinned, sitting atop an iron throne to give him a nice view of the chaos he was causing below. “I think I know the best way to raise the price of this device. I can charge whatever I want if it was used to kill the world’s number one hero!”

But All Might was already on the move. He leapt around, trying his best to go after the villain. All he ended up doing, however, was dodging metal chuns that got thrown his way. The villain attempted to pin him down with a pillar, similar to how he did with Midoriya earlier. But it didn’t work.

Melissa let out a shriek as the ground beneath her was uprooted. Midoriya acted quickly, rushing over and catching Melissa before she got thrown back.

“Let’s go!” Midoriya said, eyes burning as he looked to Ruby.

“R-Right!” Ruby replied. Together, they leapt away from the fight. They looked back at the fight only for a moment. And in that moment, they saw All Might really struggling to fight against the villain’s metallic powers. “Is he going to be okay?”

Midoriya bit his lip. “...I hope so…!”

The villain cackled, sending another barrage of iron pillars towards the number one hero. All that pressure… he was going to squash him like a bug!

But Midoriya, with Melissa in his arms and Ruby by herself, couldn’t get in close to help. With the villain’s boosted Quirk, he was keeping the students at bay with even more pillars. They were forced to evade in order to keep themselves from getting hurt. They were nowhere close when another metal barrage came for All Might.

“ALL MIGHT!” Ruby and Midoriya shrieked. However, the pillars never reached him. They were frozen in place. Literally, as a giant wall of ice had sprouted out of nowhere to keep them still.

It took Ruby a second to realize what was going on as two people rushed above the ice.

“GO TO HELL!” Ruby recognized that scream.

Bakugo had made an appearance, Yang rushing into combat right alongside him. The boy had his explosions at their maximum as he leapt through the air, and she left sparks in her red-eyed wake. Despite their combined strength, both Yang and Bakugo were easily blocked by a metal wall. Their distraction, however, was enough to allow Midoriya and Ruby to find a safe place to land.

“Yang! Bakugo!” Ruby exclaimed, happy to see her sister and her friend safe and sound. Bakugo reeled back a few seconds after unleashing his barrage, clutching his wrist.

“How can you let yourself be beat by such a lame final boss…?” Bakugo barked at the pair of them. “Hurry and take him down!”

There was a now exposed elevator, the doors thrown open from what Ruby guessed were Bakugo and Yang. The rest of the U.A. kids came rushing out to help. They were tired, that much was obvious. Jirou was supporting Kaminari, and Iida had Yaoyorozu over his shoulder. Ochako was keeping Weiss upright. But they all were burning with determination.

Todoroki had both of his Quirks at the ready. “We’ll do what we can! We’ll help you!”

“Todoroki!” Midoriya cried out in relief. “Everyone!”

“Alright 1-A!” Yang shouted down below to the rest of the group. She slid down the ice wall, with Blake racing up the site to meet her halfway. “Show this asshole what you’re made of! Iida, Kirishima! With me and Blake! We’re going to do what we can to give All Might a chance!”

And just like that, Iida and Kirishima rushed in alongside their senpai. Yang, Kirishima and Bakugo tore and blasted their way through the metal barrages. Weiss used her glyphs to keep them in place, while Todoroki froze what she was held captive to help her save her strength for as long as he could. 

Their tag-teaming moves allowed the others to get the drop on them… quite literally, as Bakugo was up in the air and Yang and Kirishima were working in tandem to give each other a boost up. Blake worked alongside Iida, using her Shadow clones to create viable targets for the pillars while Iida came up from behind them to smash his way through.

Their plan worked. All Might finally got the chance to push back against the boss villain’s attack. He charged forward towards the villain in question.

“It’s time to be… PLUS ULTRA!” he shouted. The original ice Todoroki created finally broke, and the pillars it had been holding back came rushing for All Might again. He broke through them with a smash. He flew through the assault, dodging and breaking all the iron structures that threaten to crush him. He smashed through, sending debris flying towards the three still on the rooftop.

“Prepare yourself,  _ villain _ !” said the hero. Just when All Might was about to land what could’ve been the finishing blow, metal wires came out to restrain him. The villain wrapped his hand around the hero’s throat.

“Prepare myself?” The villain chuckled. The muscles on his arm seemed to grow bigger, tearing through the remainders of his coat’s sleeve. “Take your own advice! You’ve underestimated me!” He seized All Might’s left side and squeezed. Ruby’s heart broke upon hearing her hero scream out in pain. 

“All Might!” Midoriya cried out. He rushed towards his mentor. Or at least, he attempted to. His injury from earlier flared, and he dropped to his knee. How bad has he gotten hurt?!

Melissa rushed over to his side. “Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine…” Midoriya said through grit teeth. Ruby walked over to him, taking his forearm in her hand as she dropped down beside him.

“Quit lying!” she said, slightly irritated that he was trying to hide how much pain he was in for so long. “You’re hurt!”

“I’m just…” Midoriya huffed, “I’m just bruised, I’ll be fine! We gotta help All Might!” Ruby knew that, but—!

“DamMIT!” Bakugo shouted, his voice echoing in the air.

The metal pillars were starting to overwhelm the hero course students. Ruby could see Bakugo in slight pain and his hands shaking. Yang’s charge was running low, with not even embers falling from her hair anymore. Todoroki struggled to regulate his own temperature. 

Ruby was brought back to the present when All Might once again screamed. The villain had him pushed against a series of metal wires, using a pillar to keep him there.

Ruby’s heart plummeted as the villain then crushed him between two giant metal cubes.

“ALL MIGHT!” she cried out. More cubes laid into him, crushing him even further and stabbing at Ruby’s heart. Midoriya immediately activated Full Cowling. Ruby could hear her friends cry out for their hero in complete shock.

“Please, don’t do this…!” Melissa begged, though her pleas went unnoticed.

“Farewell, Symbol of Peace!” the villain cackled as metal spikes pierced the cubes. And Ruby could hear Melissa scream.

Everything seemed to stop for a moment. Tears ran down Ruby’s face. White returned to her peripherals. No! No, no, no, no, no!

She was only brought back to reality by a rush of wind passing beside her, and the feeling of Midoriya’s arm being pulled away from her hold. What looked like a ball of green energy was shooting towards the cubes. 

Izuku Midoriya shattered the cube apart with a smash, sending the mass flying back towards the villain. All Might fell from where it once was along with his student. Something started to choke her, and Ruby moved on her own.

“Izuku!” she cried out. She rushed over to where both the hero and his student fell. She was pushing the limits of her Quirk. All the running she had done today and in the last few hours alone had her stamina on the low. But she had to see if they were—

Ruby stopped about halfway to her destination. She had caught sight of a familiar burst of green energy crackling right in the area where All Might and Izuku hit the roof.

“Let’s go!” she heard All Might say — much to her own relief.

“Yes, sir!” came Midoriya’s voice in reply. Ruby grinned. She watched as, in a burst of superpowered speed, both Midoriya and All Might rushed towards the villain.

“There's no way you can stop me! You’re insignificant pests!” The villain’s voice echoed from atop his perch. He combines the heaps of scrap around him into giant iron cubes. “And you don’t know when to lie down and be CRUSHED!”

He sent the projectiles flying towards the hero and his student. But—!

“You’re the one…” Despite being in obvious pain, Bakugo aimed his palms at the villain, “WHO DOESN’T KNOW HE’S  _ BEAT! _ ” He unleashed a massive explosion that blasts the villain's metal weapons apart. All Might and Midoriya continued on, only to be met by an ambush of descending pillars.

“I WON’T LET YOU STOP THEM!” yelled Todoroki. With a major flash freeze, he swept his arm up from the ground, creating a huge, heaven-piercing ice wall to block the attack. A large, white glyph formed on either side, supporting the structure and keeping it in place.

“This is OVER!” shouted the villain, even though he was on his last legs.

He threw out iron pillars, destroying more of the roof in the process in a desperate attempt to stop All Might and Midoriya’s advancement. But all it ended up doing was up-ending everyone’s footing. They stumbled, trying desperately to stay up and regain their balance without any injury. Ruby heard a scream behind her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Melissa falling, disappearing as she fell back behind the debris.

Ruby made up her mind in an instant.

She rushed over to Melissa in a burst of rose petals and wrapped her arms around her. With the last bit of her stamina, Ruby caught her. Melissa wrapped her arms around the speedy girl’s neck in an effort to find stability. Ruby immediately rushed them out of harm’s way, jumping on settling rubble until she hit stable ground.

She dropped down to her knees as soon as they were somewhere that was still solid, with Melissa’s hold loosening. The girls got low on the remaining metal. They were safe. Hopefully they were far enough away from the fight now that they were at least… but…

The two girls looked back. All Might and Midoriya were still charging on. They traversed the twisted landscape with ease, using their powers to smash through the metallic assault as if it were nothing. Ruby’s eyes went wide as she watched Midoriya smash cleanly through one of the metal pillars the villain had sent at him with a superpowered kick.

_ Where did he learn that?! That was awesome! _

In what Ruby suspected was a last ditch effort, the villain compiled a dozen of his iron cubes together to form one massive cube over head. Ruby’s eyes widened. With that, he was going to crush not only Midoriya and All Might, but the entire tower itself.

But still, All Might and Midoriya pressed on. They leapt into the air, drawing their fists back. The villain sends the massive cube towards the students. Ruby shut her eyes, throwing up her arms as she braced for it’s impact. Despite not wanting to look, she found herself cracking open an eye, wanting to watch her teacher and her friend.

They were like a beacon. The power of their Quirks lit up the darkened sky as they worked together. Their cries of ferocity ran through the air like a battle cry. They were giving it all they had, going to 100% of their power.

Midoriya and All Might broke through the cube like it was made of wet sand. And like a shooting star, they rocketed towards the metallic villain, their powers destroying any and all obstacles that he put in their way. Shouts from the other U.A. students down below on the battle ground rose up around them.

“DEKU!”

“STOP HIM, ALL MIGHT!”

“GO MIDORIYA!”

“DESTROY THIS GUY!”

Ruby’s legs shook as she tried to stand, but found herself brought down to her knees. Her lip quivered, and she found the right words.

“COME ON! DON’T GIVE UP!” she shouted, her voice as loud as she could possibly make it. “YOU CAN DO IT!”

Her hero’s and her friend’s shouts rung through the air: “PLUS ULTRA!”

With the strength of their overpowered quirks combined, Izuku and All Might just about obliterated the iron fortress and struck the villain housed inside. Ruby couldn’t make out what happened afterward, as the metal structure began to collapse.

The resulting blow from Midoriya and All Might’s impact shook the tower, debris falling with heavy thuds. Melissa managed to help Ruby up and pulled her out of harm’s way as everything came down.

But over the sound of crashing metal, the victorious cheers of the U.A. students rang out crystal clear through the air. They had done it. They won.

It took a moment for the dust to settle entirely. Ruby and Melissa didn't move. They had won, but… where was All Might? Where was Midoriya?! Ruby could see the villain — now weak and overspent — hanging from his coat and the amplification device in pieces on the ground. But where was her friend?!

Ruby pushed herself up alongside Melissa, knees shaking. They ran towards the rubble, searching for even a single shred of at least one of their loved ones. Much to Ruby’s relief, she saw a familiar head of green curls pop out of some of the dusty rubble with a gasp. His shirt was gone.

“Deku!” Melissa called out, Ruby too relieved to say anything. Upon hearing his nickname, Midoriya turned.

“Melissa!” he called back, a wide grin as his friends caught up to him. “Ruby!”

“I’m so glad you’re alive!” Ruby, however, said not a word. Instead, she rushed forward, dropping down and just about falling on top of Midoriya as her knees hit the ground. She wrapped her arms tightly around her friend, burying her face into his shoulder. Midoriya seemed stunned for a moment. After that moment, however, Ruby heard him sigh and return her hug.

...another second later, Ruby began to put more of her weight on him than she probably should have.

“Uh, R-Rose?” Midoriya placed his hands on her shoulders, “Are you okay?”

“So tired…” she muttered. “I can barely feel my legs…”

“Right… I forgot, your Quirk relies on your stamina, doesn’t it?” Ruby wearily nodded into his shoulder. All that running… she had only felt so tired once in her life, after using the last of her stamna to pass her final exam. But even she was willing to bet she was more tired now than then. Midoriya chuckled, taking her hands off of him and helping her to her feet. Now that she knew he was safe...

“Are the Professor and All Might…?” There was silence. it was like the thought just hit them now.

The trio acted quickly, with Midoriya doing his best to support Ruby and help her climb up a pile of debris. Their voices rang out in the early morning light, shouting for the professor and the number one hero. 

“PAPA!”

“ALL MIGHT!” They finally made it to the top of the mountain of rubble. Ruby let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. At the bottom, on the other side were All Might and Professor Shield, the latter propped up against some of the debris. Melissa was tearing up as All Might flashed them a simple thumbs-up. It was okay now. For real.

“He’s okay… I can’t believe it… ” Tears were streaming down Melissa's cheeks, despite how much she was wiping them away. She turned to the other two beside her. “I’m so grateful. And it's all thanks to you guys. You all saved the island.”

“We did it together,” Midoriya looked down at his now bare right arm. Ruby blinked. Wait… “After all, the only way I made it this far was because I had your Full Gauntlet on my arm.” He closed his fist and looked up at Melissa. “Thanks so much for your help.”

“We’re a good team.” That was true, but… Ruby leaned against his arm.

“Um… Midoriya?” she asked, tapping his hand with her own. “Where  _ is _ the gauntlet?” There was a beat. He had been wearing it up until that final smash, so that meant—

“I broke it…!” Midoriya exclaimed, “Sorry about that…” Melissa only chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said as if she could always just make another. Midoriya let out a sigh.

“Still, sorry…” Ruby started to slip, falling from her position on Midoriya's arm. He caught her quickly before she could hit the ground, bracing her once again. She really needed to rest... As much as she loved her Quirk, Ruby really wished it didn’t have this kind of draw back… Midoriya stared at her. “Uh, Rose… your eyes. They’re not…”

“Huh?” Ruby blinked. Her eyes? “What about them?”

“Oh, it’s uh…” A pale shade of pink bloomed across Midoriya’s face as he scratched the back of his head. He chuckled, sounding somewhat nervous as he did so. “I-It’s nothing! Don’t worry about it…”

Ruby raised her eyebrow. It didn’t sound like nothing—

“DEEEKUUU!” That cry caught their attention. Melissa, Ruby and Midoriya turn back to the other side of the rubble mountain. “MELISSSAAAA! RUUUUBYYYY!!” The rest of the gang was waiting down below in the debris, Ochako shouted and waving her arms wildly to catch their attention. 

Yang waved her arms as well, jumping up and down to try and get their attention. “HEEEY!”

“HOW ARE THE OTHERS?!” shouted Iida up at them. “IS EVERYONE OKAY?!”

Midoriya used his free arm to wave down at them. “We’re up here! All Might and the professor are okay, too!”

“But what about the rest of you guys?!” asked Melissa, cupping her hands around her mouth to make her voice louder.

“WE’RE GOOD!” shouted up Ochako.

“ALIVE ANYWAY!” Iida added. Ruby grinned. They were okay…

She slipped from Midoriya’s hold on her. Instead, she let herself slide down the heap of rubble. Immediately as she started to come down, Weiss, Blake and Yang rushed towards the bottom of the heap. Ruby skipped over a few things, stumbling as she did so. They were okay! They were okay, they were okay, they were—! As Ruby reached the bottom, she got caught by the three of her friends, tears in her eyes.

“You’re okay…” said Yang, face buried in Ruby’s dusty hair.

“Yeah,” Ruby croaked, clutching onto her sister, Weiss and Blake like her life depended on it. They all pulled away, and Ruby kept a tight hold on Yang’s arm to keep herself up. “Sorry if I made you worry.”

“Nah,” Yang laughed as she ruffled her already messy hair. “I had faith you could do it.”

“I beg to differ,” said Blake with a smirk. Yang sent an annoyed look her way, but only sighed. The four girls looked out over the tower. The sun was starting to rise in the distance. Had they really been up all night?

“Well…” Yang yawned, confirming Ruby’s guess, “we did it.”

Blake sighed. “We did it.”

“If we get in trouble for this,” said Weiss, hands on her hips. “I’m going to be seriously disappointed.”

“Weiss, a villain turned the tower into a huge fortress,” Yang reminded her with a brow raised, “which was destroyed by All Might and a fifteen year old—”

“Sixteen,” Ruby cut in as she slumped up against her sister’s arm, “Midoriya’s birthday was a week ago—”

“Doesn’t matter. The villain’s stopped, no one’s dead, so I wouldn’t count on it. If anything, we’re going to be called heroes.”

“There are dangerous people behind bars now, or at least there will be once the Pros and police come up here,” said Blake. “And I think that's something we could be proud of.”

“Yeah!” Ruby added, cheek rubbing against Yang’s arm as she nodded. “And if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop them.” At least she hoped.

“Yay, teamwork, camaraderie, good guys, go team, alright, good job…” Yang cast her glance over at the students of 1-A, who were now rushing to meet with Midoriya and Melissa. “So, what now?”

Her limbs heavy and her eyes struggling to stay open, Ruby could only think of one thing to suggest. “Time for bed?”

“Please.”

“Absolutely,” said Blake with a small groan.

“Yes,” Weiss agreed. Ruby started to fall again. Oh no—

“I'm going to sleep forever…” Yang huffed, catching Ruby. She swiftly scooped her sister up in her arms.

Ruby sighed, finally happy to have some relief after running around so much in such a short amount of time. She watched Midoriya and Melissa make their way down the debris to join the rest of them. She couldn’t help herself from grinning as Yang shifted her, heaving her up on her back in order to carry her better. Ruby buried her face in her sister’s hair.

They were safe and sound at last. Safe and sound… Safe and sound at last.

The sun rose over the rubble, lighting up the top of the tower with the sun’s warmth. Ruby drifted off right then and there, arms draped over Yang’s shoulders. They were safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a thing. I do want to note that Ruby comparing Wolfram's (the metal villain) Quirk to Pyrrha's was actually inspired by a note off of the BNHA wiki site, which compared how the two had a "striking resemblance" to one another. Take that as you will.
> 
> Also, Midoriya calling Ruby by her given name the second time was a complete accident. I didn't even realize I typed it in until I was reading through it a while ago. It felt good, so I just kept it in. Speaking of Ruby, I hope you guys caught a little something that she did during the attack. Because it won't be the last time in the series that it happens, believe me.
> 
> There's one more chapter to go! It's a short epilogue that's gonna wrap things up nice and sweet! And then we'll get into V3 soon enough
> 
> Next time -- Epilogue
> 
> “I will never understand how you guys fought in your heels last night…”
> 
> “I’m sure we’ll be able to handle whatever gets thrown at us."  
> “Except for that."
> 
> “Hey, Rose? Can I ask you a question?”  
> “Yeah, sure. Fire away!"  
> “About your Quirk… are you…? Um, a side effect of it is creating those petals when you use it, right? Are there any other side effects?"
> 
> “You really think so?”  
> “I know so."


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm after the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings for this chapter! It's just a nice way to wrap up everything that has happened in the fic into a nice little bow.
> 
> Though it does contain some wholesome fluff and a lil bit of ship teasing. That's about it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

That afternoon, after the heroes of the day were well-rested from their fight, they were all invited to a small party on the beach with the other members of 1-A who had shown up — the rest of the girls, as well as Hanta Sero, Rikido Sato, Mezo Shoji and Fumikage Tokoyami, much to Ruby’s surprise. Even All Might was grilling lunch for them and eventually explained to the kids that he was the one responsible for this whole thing. He said it was a means of thanking the students for saving him last night.

But, unfortunately for Ruby It was hard to enjoy the whole thing for at least two reasons. One of them being, even though she now had her own shoes now on her feet… they were sore as heck.

“I will never understand how you guys fought in your heels last night…” she groaned. It wasn’t just the, Ruby was pretty sure that Ochako, Jirou and Yaoyorozu had fought in their heels, too. It didn’t make sense! Well, for Jirou it didn’t make sense. Ochako’s and Yaoyorozu’s boots for their hero costumes were heeled...

“You were the one who took off her shoes,” Blake reminded her. “And fought barefooted.”

Ruby cast a glare in her direction. “It was either that or run in those things! I couldn’t do that.”

“You’ll get used to the feeling eventually,” Weiss said, which only made Ruby groan. She didn’t want to get used to this feeling. She hated it. Yang patted her shoulder, letting her hand linger there. 

“Well, there’s no need to worry about any more villain attacks right now,” she smirked, and Ruby didn’t like it. “Just go have fun!” Yang proceeded to spin her sister by the shoulder as Blake and Weiss walked away. Ruby heard her sister laugh before dashing off to follow after Blake.

“Do you not remember what happened the last time you left me alone like this?!” Ruby shouted towards her sister. She let out a yelp as her feet got tangled up with each other. She fell backwards, luckily not hitting the ground due to whomever was behind her catching her at the last minute. Unfortunately for Ruby, that person just had to be— “All Might! I am so, so sorry!”

“It’s alright, Young Ruby. Don’t sweat it!” All Might told her as he righted the girl. Ruby let out a little sigh brushing herself off. Well, at least it wasn't Bakugo she crashed into… “Not enjoying yourself?”

“Huh? No! Not at all, I mean…” Ruby chuckled, “everything’s fine. Just still a bit sore from last night, that’s all. Was not expecting any of that last night… at all.” She glanced over at her friends. “And when we’re all usually gathered together like this, it doesn’t end well. ...There's usually a villain involved, which is really weird.”

“Fortunately for us, you kids can’t send your whole lives on the battlefield. Even if it seems to find you.” Ruby hummed in reply at that, yawing a little. Maybe staying up all night wasn’t the best for her… at least she slept for a solid ten hours after… according to Yang she did, anyway. All Might looked over at his students. “Though, I suppose it's fortunate that the party was cancelled last night.”

Ruby hummed again, raising a brow. “What makes you say that?”

“Someone once told me that fighting and dancing aren’t so different. I beg to differ. If I had been given the opportunity to dance, someone would have been going home with a swollen foot.” Ruby felt something bubble up in her chest. The image of All Might being a bad dancer… “Or a twisted ankle. Though, that one would have most likely been me…”

That finally got her giggles to break free. When Ruby started laughing, All Might put his large hand on her shoulder.

“It’s not every day that young heroes like yourselves are able to come together like this," he said. "After all you’ve been through, you deserve this.” Ruby was genuinely smiling now. What was it about All Might and whatever he said to her in times like these that made her feel better? It was almost kind of like—! Ruby’s train of throat was broken when All Might patted her shoulder again. “Go have some fun. This vacation’s not going to last forever."

“Thanks, All Might!” Feeling lifted by her teacher’s words, Ruby rushed off to join her friends in their celebratory feast. She could think about that familiar feeling later.

As they ate their barbecue, the kids talked about what happened in the aftermath of the fight. Since the first years were unlicensed, their role in taking back the tower and taking down the villains was kept out of any and all media. The only ones who got any media attention were All Might, as well as the three upperclassmen of U.A. Blake, Weiss and Yang’s provisional licenses granted them the legal opportunity to step in. They were fine and free from any broken laws.

“Either way,” said Ochako, swallowing down a rather large bite that she just took, “we did a great job.” Yeah, Ruby had to agree with that. Though.. internally, she found it strange that someone else had taken credit for a victory that wasn’t theirs because of hero laws. And that she was involved with both incidents. ...and that both incidents happened in less than two or so months from each other.

“But tomorrow, it’s back to work,” Kaminari said before groaning and dropping his head on the table. Right… due to the incident, the I-Expo was postponed indefinitely. ...which pretty much meant that it was cancelled. The kids would be going back to Japan tomorrow morning to prepare for their upcoming training camp.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to handle whatever gets thrown at us,” Ruby said, trying to cheer her friend up. This was just for training, after all. Not like the teachers would pull some sort of mock fight for the kids and not tell them… about… it. 

...Thinking back on previous training exercises, Ruby realized they would.

“Except for that,” said Kirishima. Ruby raised a brow. Kirishima only pointed over to where Yang and Blake were hanging out with Todoroki. Bakugo was nearby, tearing into a kebab as he helped Iida with the food preparation. His brow was furrowed, and now that Ruby thought about it, she hadn’t heard him yell at all today. Every now and then, he would glance over at Yang before returning his attention on the task in front of him.

“Is it just me or is Bakugo acting a bit weird today?” Ruby asked. “He’s oddly calm.”

“Maybe he’s just tired?” Ochako suggested with a shrug.

“No, like…” Ruby let out a sigh. “I don’t know how to put it other than calmer? More excited pomeranian rather than angry… Especially when he’s around Yang.” Ochako only hummed at that, digging back into her late lunch.

Kirishima leaned a bit closer to Ruby, glancing at Bakugo to make sure that he wasn’t looking over at them. “Between you and me, I think Bakugo likes your sister. Which says a lot because Bakugo doesn’t like a lot of people.”

“Wait, likes her?” Kirishima nodded. Wait… “Like how Blake likes her or…?”

“No, I mean like… he looks up to her, you know?” Kirishima leaned back, glancing over at Bakugo again. “He was pretty impressed by her Quirk during those fights yesterday… I don’t think he’ll ever admit it out loud to anyone, though. He actually wants to fight her himself.” Ruby nearly choked. He wanted to  _ fight _ Yang?!

“To be honest,” began Midoriya. “I can see why Kacchan looks up to Xiao Long-Senpai. Their Quirks are both explosively charged and cause major damage. Rebound and stuff like that. She’s a pretty amazing person. She’s Pro Hero material.” Ruby sighed… He was right, but...

“I still think that if they fought, it would end in disaster,” she said flatly.

“Oh, definitely.” At least they were in agreement on that.

“Wait,” Kaminari pointed his skewer at Ruby, leaning forward on the table, “what did you mean by the way Belladonna-senpai likes your sister?” Ruby went stiff. Crap.

She quickly swallowed down the meat chunk in her mouth. “I said what now?”

“You asked if Bakugo liked your sister the same way Belladonna-senpai does. What’re you talking about?”

“Well, I—” No, no, no! “I really shouldn’t have said that, it just kind of slipped out! Kirishima made it seem like Bakugo had a kind of crush— Not that I’m saying Blake likes Yang! I mean she does, they’re friends but—” Maybe she should just shut up—! Ruby slammed her hands down on the table abruptly standing up. “Forget what I said! I’m going to get something from the cooler!”

Leaving a bit of rose petals behind, Ruby bolted away from the table and to the other side of the party, where a cooler full of drinks for the students was waiting for her. She let out a sigh when she finally got there. She knelt down beside it, popping it open. Ruby began to rummage through it, pressing the ice inside to her forehead in an effort to get rid of the blush that had formed on her cheeks.

She couldn’t believe she just said that…! Hopefully Blake and Yang didn’t hear her… She wasn’t even sure if they liked each other like that…. it was just an observation that her dad and uncle made, often teasing Yang with their thoughts about a mutual crush.

Ruby groaned. She needed to think more about things before she said them out loud.

“So… you’re hiding by the drinks?” Ruby looked up as Midoriya crouched down beside her. She sighed.

“Yep,” she replied, popping the ‘p’. Especially after that blunder. She wanted to bury her face in the ice. Maybe if she asked Todoroki to freeze her….? No, he would never go along with it. “Please don’t tell Yang that I said that. Blake, too? Or anyone for that matter, it was something that I picked up from my dad.”

“I won’t tell.” Ruby let out a sigh as Midoriya grabbed a drink from the cooler. He stood up and popped open the tab. “To the socially awkward?” Ruby smiled. She grabbed a drink can for herself and did the same as her friend, standing up and opening it.

Ruby raised it in toast. “To the socially awkward!” The pair chuckled before sipping from their cans. Ruby shut the cooler’s lid. At least someone seemed to get it. Interacting with people seemed so easy, and no matter how many friends she made, Ruby was never sure how exactly she was able to do it.

“Hey, Rose?” Ruby hummed, glancing over at Midoriya. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure. Fire away!” As long as it didn’t relate to what she just said about Yang and Blake, it was fine.

“About your Quirk… are you…? Um, a side effect of it is creating those petals when you use it, right?” Ruby nodded. “Are there any other side effects? Like your eyes glowing, maybe?” That… what? Ruby stared at her friend.

“My eyes glowing?” Ruby repeated. Midoriya nodded. “Hmm… no, I don’t think my eyes are supposed to glow. That was a staple part of my mom’s Quirk, but I really didn’t inherit that. My Quirk’s a rare mutation — it developed on its own instead of being inherited from my parents.” At least, that’s what she had been told by both her dad and the doctors they went to after Petal Burst manifested. “Why?”

“They were doing that last night,” Midoriya explained. Ruby blinked. They were… what? “Maybe it’s like your flower petals!”

“What, like leftover from my mom’s powers?” Midoriya nodded. Ruby shook her hand, using her Quirk to just form petals and let them fall. “Is that even possible?”

“Quirks are sometimes a combination of a person’s parents — like Kacchan’s and Todoroki’s are.” Ruby hummed upon hearing that. She knew about Todoroki, but Bakugo, too? “Maybe it’s just the bit of your parents’ Quirk genes that didn’t mutate doing that?” Ruby only shrugged.

“Maybe.” She hummed as she thought about it. “...My dad does have a natural resistance to heat because of his Quirk. I got that from him and the rose petals from my mom. I wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes glowed a little bit because of that, too.” Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby could see Midoriya staring at her. “...What?”

“A natural resistance to heat…” he muttered. “That explains how you were able to go against Kacchan for so long in the Sports Festival…” Ruby hummed in reply. She really didn’t want to think about that. It hurt too much, and wasn’t a pleasant experience afterwards.

The fight last night started to play in her mind instead. Everything… racing up the tower, going after the villain with Midoriya, saving Professor Shield, fighting with him and the way they moved… Everything was just… strangely in sync. They worked well together. And everything. Freeing her from the villain’s metal cell when he didn’t have to. Him catching her almost every time she fell, even after the fight was over. Ruby sighed.

“Hey, Midoriya?” she said, getting her friend’s attention once more. Ruby stared down at the can in her hand. “About last night… Thanks.”

“Hm?” Midoriya stared at her, confused. “For what?”

“For having my back. You didn’t go after the Professor right away, you rescued me first. You put me over yourself when we fell from the helicopter — don’t tell Yang about that one, either.” She sighed again, shaking her head. “I don’t think I would’ve gotten through that fight if it wasn’t for you.”

“I could say the same thing. I would’ve gotten way more hurt than I did last night if I were alone. I would’ve gotten slammed into the roof twice… maybe even gotten crushed.” Ruby was pretty sure that would’ve happened even if she wasn’t there, but kept her mouth shut. “You also helped us make it to the top of the tower. You had my back, too, Rose. You kept an eye out for me the whole time, so thanks.” Midoriya smiled at her. “We make a pretty great team, don’t we?”

“Yeah…”Ruby returned his grin and nodded. “We do.” It was strange though. It was like their instincts were perfectly in sync last night. Like fate had their team up in mind. It was… really amazing, actually. Despite the danger, Ruby and Midoriya… every one of their actions just fell in place like it was supposed to be that way. “We’re going to be great heroes one day.”

“You really think so?” Midoriya asked, running his free hand over the back of his neck.

“I know so. Something tells me that we are.” She raised her can and Midoriya tapped it with his. “We’re at the U.A., after all. We’re just a little into our first year, and we’ve already done so much! And there’s still the training camp to look forward to!”

“Yeah. I can’t wait. This summer’s going to be amazing, I know it!” Ruby nodded happily. She felt the same way.

The pair heard their friends call out their name. Exchanging a look and smile with each other, Ruby Rose and Izuku Midoriya rushed back over to join in on the festivities.

Yeah… even though their vacation plans may have fallen through, it didn’t mean the summer was over. There was still the rest of break to look forward to, and the training camp, too! The entire first year hero course would be able to get together and just have some time to themselves for once… even if it was intermingled with hard training. It would be worth it in the long run.

Something told Ruby that the rest of this summer would be one that she wouldn’t forget. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is a wrap on I-Island Vacation! Thank you so much to everyone who's read, commented and left their little kudos. I appreciate and love all of you. I'm so glad that you enjoyed reading.
> 
> There was a lot that went into this story, but it was just something nice that I wanted to do before we got into the heavy stuff of V3, as well as to celebrate the first anniversary of the AU as a whole. I never really thought that I would make it this far. And I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for everyone's support. So again, thank you so much!
> 
> For anyone wondering, the events of this fic are canon to the AU, and will be brought up sporadically during V3. Volume 3 -- Falling and Rising -- is already in progress and is estimated to come out some time in the spring. My estimate is sometime in either April or May, more likely the latter since I'll be done with my classes by then.
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading. And I hope to see you again in the next installment for RWBY in My Hero!


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